Elaborate, Awful, and Mutual
by WeRWhoWeR000
Summary: You know of those girls who get knocked up in high school, right? The ones who slip up at a party and have the rest of their lives to regret it. But, here's Naruto and Sasuke, on polar opposites of the world, with one thing in common. Their unborn child. SasuNaru. Mpreg.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Naruto or any characters.**

**Warnings: M-preg (male pregnancy), teen pregnancy, drama, slight tragedy, boy on boy sex, small amounts of angst, etc.**

**Pairings: SasukexNaruto, NejixGaara, slight ItachixDeidara and KibaxNaruto**

**This is set in a world where males having babies is possible, just greatly discouraged. It's on the level of being a prostitute and it's promoted to get an abortion. Most boys have surgery to get the parts removed at birth, it's just as common as circumcision. **

"Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Last time I checked, this was not the kind of person you were. I didn't know you we're a filthy liar."

"I am not—you know what? You're nothin more than a bastard, I hate you."

"I hate you too."

"Go to hell!" Naruto spun around and stormed away, not bothering to look back at the raven, with that impassive face. His eyes were burning, but he moved on until he reached the boys bathroom, then he locked the door and sank to the ground. The blonde man clenched his teeth together with rage and tried ignoring the hot wetness dripping from the corners of his eyes. This was stupid, stupid, stupid! Naruto hit his head against the door of the restroom, pulling hard on his golden locks.

All the times he used protection—but this one time—with that stupid bastard—

And now he was... over. His life was over, his future had ended, no one would ever trust him again. People would talk—oh, they would have so much to say about stupid, dead last Naruto Uzumaki! How they knew he would be the one to end up this way, how he was always the promiscuous type, how they wish he wouldn't have royally fucked up and could've graduated.

How Naruto's senior year had been ruined by his own bad choices. But no one would say anything about the bastard. As far as they knew, they would never bat an eyelash toward the Uchiha.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Sasuke watched Naruto run away before turning in the opposite direction, walking back to class. He entered the room, nodding his apologies to Iruka-sensei and retaking his seat next to Sakura.

"What happen? What did he want?"

"Nothing, he just picked another argument. Childish, really." Sakura accepted this answer, intertwining their hands on the table, then continued with her notes. Sasuke sighed, staring at the board above Iruka's head, having missed too much of class to even try catching up now. Not that his grades were anywhere near danger.

That dobe. He was stupid, stupid, stupid. How dare he lie about something like that? The nerve of that blonde. Sasuke was by no means a naive man, he knew exactly how people like Naruto worked. They tried to claim somebody greater than themselves, in a pathetic attempt to redeem their little lives. Many had pulled this same plot before, never succeeding. Naruto was trying to use the raven to get out of the run-down dumps that had become his life. He knew the blonde was desperate for wealth—but when had it gone this far? To lie about being...

The nerve of some people.

"Sasuke, you're hurting me!" The Uchiha was snapped from his thoughts by the high squeal of the pinkette next to him. He quickly ease his grip on her hand, lifting it to his mouth his a small peck.

"Sorry."

"Are you sure that loser didn't do anything to you?"

Sasuke nodded and flashed her a small smile. That was all the reassurance Sakura needed, she leaned her his shoulder, content. That was another evil thing Naruto was trying to do—break him and Sakura up. They'd been together since the beginning junior year, so a little over a year. Their relationship was well known to all of Konoha High, where they had become the 'it' couple. As was Sasuke's... flings. If they could even be called that. Sakura was aware too—but she knew that she would always be the only one Sasuke would ever claim, which happen to be enough for her. As long as she had him and the title, the raven could have his short-lived fun. And so could she.

Most would see this kind of relationship hazardous. But they didn't.

The bell rung, indicating the time for lunch. Sasuke stood, with Sakura plastered to his side. The went to the cafeteria and joined the rest of their group of friends. Neji and Hinata Hyuuga, Shikamaru, Ino Yamanaka, Choji, and Suigetsu. They were at the top of the senior class—the richest, most beautiful, smartest. And at times, some of them could be the cruelest too. But then again, they could also be the nicest kids. Everyone balanced each other out. Not many people were allowed to associate with their group, outsiders tended to ruin the balanced they'd developed.

Lunch seemed to be going fine, the cafeteria food was edible for once. But then, chaos struck. Because, not even Sasuke could control things of this situation. "Uchiha! How could you do that to him?" Gaara Sabaku slammed his hands down on the table, glaring at the raven.

"Gaara, what is it?" Neji asked, standing to move to the side of his boyfriend, who shrugged him away. "Gaara?" The Hyuuga looked between the angry gaze of his redhead and the bitter expression on his bestfriends face.

"Tell them Uchiha! Tell all of them, or I will." Now the commotion had drawn a crowd. Everyone wanted to see the brave individual who dared stand up to the Sasuke Uchiha. Upon finding the spit-fire Sabaku, they settled in to watch the show. It wasn't everyday that they saw their highly seniors improvise. "Go on!"

Sasuke contemplated his options. He could attack Gaara and knock him out, then deal with Neji who would surely jump in. Sabaku was one of the rare outsiders allowed near the group—over several months it had become common knowledge that the Hyuuga was whipped. Option two included calling Gaara insane and letting him speak, chancing that no one would believe him. His last card included telling them all the truth about what was going on at the moment. About the blonde man who was curled up on the bathroom floor but not alone. And he would never be alone for the next 9 months.

"Try me, Sabaku."

Gaara frowned, shaking his head. "I expected more from you, Uchiha. You run this damn school, but you're not nearly the man everyone thinks you are. I'm going to tell them, all of them." Neji continued to stare, dumbfounded by the whole thing.

Sasuke scoffed. "You have no reason not to call me a man. I'm young, he was foolish—not everything was my fault. He can do what he wants."

"He?" Sakura asked as she looked over to her boyfriend, who was looking deathly pale. "Who is he?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." The redhead spoke, turning to the crowd of people around them all.

Ino laughed. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, "What does that idiot have to do with any of this? He's a loser and shouldn't be anywhere near Sasuke-kun." She looked at her long nails, more interested in them than the confrontation.

Gaara barked at her, "Shut up, ugly. Uchiha! This is your last chance, tell them all the truth and own up. I can see it in your face, you know it's true and you know it's yours."

"Alright, enough of this! Sasuke, Gaara, I want to know what is going on right now." Neji demanded, hands on his hips.

The raven had just decided to try option one when he saw a dash of sunshine blonde hair. Over by the cafeteria door, just barely peeking in, was Naruto with a puffy face. He'd been crying. Sasuke swallowed his spit, trying to keep himself from meeting eyes with that dobe. But of course that did not happen—he also looked at him immediately. Naruto's face was reddened, puffy, sad. This was all too much for the Uchiha to handle. The undeniable force in his chest was fighting against his body—he wanted to comfort the blonde man. Because, this situation was not only his fault.

The decision was made out of mutual consent. That was the only way Sasuke could bare to think of it.

Obsidian eyes refocused on the scene at his table, Sakura, Suigetsu, and Ino were locked into a heated word battle with Gaara. So, the Sabaku hadn't told yet. He must understand that it was really up to Sasuke.

The raven stood, calling all attention to himself. The other seniors arguing shut up, Gaara continued to glare at him with jade eyes. But Sasuke had made up his mind. He cleared his throat—Sakura interrupted, "Sasuke, what did you do to Naruto?"

Sasuke scowled. "I got him pregnant."

The crowd erupted. Sakura and Ino screamed. Shikamaru choked on his drink. Gaara smirked and nodded. Neji yelped. And Naruto disappeared, taking all the sunshine in the room with him. Sasuke simply sighed in defeat.


	2. Chapter 2

"Well, why did you do it Sasuke?"

"Obviously, he was taken advantage of!"

"Psh, how would that weakling take on Sasuke? He was just looking for some ass and the idiot let up. It just so happen he got knocked up."

"Sasuke... b-but... after all this time! Why did it have to be Naruto! Of all fucking people." Sakura snapped, stamping her feet. She whipped around to look at their friends. "Can you leave us alone for awhile. I need to speak to my _boyfriend_."

The group nodded and stood to leave the rec. room. They had all missed six period, might as well try to make it to last block. They would even do some damage control, even if it had only happen a hour ago it had to have spread. But Neji stopped in the doorway, "Sasuke. We've been best friends since diapers, I'm here for you and _your dumbass_. I'll text you later." He gave a faint smile and left.

Now, Sakura pulled up a chair directly infront of the raven, crossing her delicate legs. "Tell me right now how this happened."

"Well, I'm sure you know how it happened. Sex," Sasuke matched her glare.

"No shit. I mean when, where, why. Go." The pinkette settled into her chair. "From your answer, we can develop a story to scrap whatever is left of this relationship. Believe it or not, I really am fond of you." And the privileges of dating an Uchiha.

The Uchiha kept himself from gapping at the girl. She was seriously going to stay with him—after he got another person pregnant? But, he guessed that's what he liked about her in the first place, she would be able to keep up with him. That was what made her acceptable. She was a bitch. "Three weeks ago, the homecoming dance, and—" Why did he do it? "—I don't know."

"C'mon. Why did you do it? To hurt me? For fun? I deserve to know."

Sasuke scowled as he tried to think back to that night. But it was like there was a block squeezed into his mind and made it impossible. "Was it because of elementary school?" Sakura asked. The raven looked up at her, his scowl deeper. How dare she even suggest that.

"Hn, you're a mean one, Sakura. I haven't thought about that in years." He folded his arms over his chest. "So, no. That isn't why."

Sakura bit her bottom lip. "Huh, I was sure that was it. Anyway, are you actually sure he's pregnant? And even if he is, how can you be sure it's yours?"

The raven began to scowl again and closed his eyes. Because, he'd seen Naruto's face when he'd told him. The true and utter seriousness, the fear, the strange hope—but hope for what? It wasn't like it would be acceptable for them to get married, it would be best for Naruto to either go into hiding or... Sasuke blinked his eyes open, shaking himself from his thoughts. "If he's pregnant, I'm sure it's mine."

"Ugh, it's disgusting. A boy pregnant with a child. Ew," Sakura looked down at her nails. "Especially someone like him who comes from a broke and broken family to begin with. And you too? That kids gonna need real help." Sasuke ignored her insults and stretched, yawning. "Was it at least good?" What a petty girl!

"He's pregnant isn't he?" Sasuke smirked at how mad that little statement had made her. If she was so jealous, she could go get a baby too. "You're evil." Still, he laughed. This was the Sakura he knew and dealt with, she wouldn't change.

The woman sighed, rolling her eyes. "Really, of all people! That dead last loser. The least you could've done, since you were going to cheat, was pick someone worthy of you."

But if she only knew how worthy Naruto was. Much more worthy than any girl or boy Sasuke had ever seen or been with. It was more along the lines of Sasuke not being worthy enough for him. That idiot understood things that Sakura and their friends would never know. He'd realized the cruelty of the world from the time he took his first breath on earth, and had been breathing hardship ever since.

And now Naruto was going to have a child at 17 years old.

Sasuke watched Sakura flounce from the room. "Until further notice, we've broken up. It won't be permanent but it needs to be done for now." She flipped her long pink hair over her shoulder and left.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

_"Oh, Naru-chan! Come, come feel." Kushina's sweet voice held a smile. She motioned for her blonde haired son to come closer. The boy hesitated at the door, unsure if he should go to his mother or not. "C'mon. He's kicking."_

_Finally, curiosity go the best of the 5-year-old and he stepped into the room, walking up to his mother. Kushina smiled and reach for his little hand, grabbing it and placing it upon her largely swollen belly, "Can you feel him?"_

_Naruto nodded, a grin breaking over his face. "Does it hurt?" He asked before thinking, now he pulled his hand back, embarrassed._

_The red haired woman giggled as she leaned over to peck her son on the forehead. "Only sometimes and only a little. He's just strong, like his big brother and his father."_

_Almost on cue, Minato was kneeling next to his young child, hand on his head. "That's true. I bet he'll be just like our Naru." The blonde man laughed._

_Naruto nodded and to prove he was strong, he replaced his hand on his mothers pregnant stomach, rubbing softly. It was oddly firm but seemed to cave under his gentle touch. For the millionth time, the child blushed but kept his hand in place. Minato and Kushina saw this and both shared an adoring look._

_"We love you Naru-chan." Naruto looked up at his parents with big blue eyes. Then—_

Naruto opened his blue eyes. He ran a hand over his face and felt the slight moisture that was beginning to develop at the ends of his eyes. Good thing he woke up before the faucet turned on. The blonde man swung his legs over the edge of his twin size bed, his feet touching the ground immediately. Even he was too tall for his bed.

He rose and was careful not to hit his head on the doorway, ending up in the bathroom. Naruto pulled his pants down and did his business, wondering if that was the reason why he had woken up. Whatever the reason, he was hungry now.

As Naruto was washing his hands, he saw the little object that had spiraled his life into hell. Well, more of a hell. The pregnancy test. All 50 million of them that he'd spent his rent money on. Because he had to be sure, he even had an appointment with Doctor Tsunade on Monday. Suddenly angry, the blonde knocked all the tests into the small little trash can and stormed out.

He wasn't hungry anymore. He fell ungracefully onto the bumpy cushions he called his couch—then he flinched and sat up. Could that have hurt the...? Fuck! Naruto pulled on his golden locks, squeezing his eyes closed. He couldn't support a child, he could barely support himself.

He lived alone, in a gloomy one bedroom one bath apartment, which he couldn't even afford. He got a discount because the owners, Teuchi and his daughter Ayame, had been close to his parents and let him stay for half price. That way he was able to pay for the bus to Konoha High and for clothing and food. Still, he barely scraped by. He had to work his butt off flipping burgers for Orochimaru, pulling double-shifts.

Now he would have a second mouth to feed and he wouldn't be able to work for much longer, once his condition got too noticeable.

Because there was no way he would abort the baby.

Naruto _didn't_ care if the world was against him, he _didn't_ care if people tried to change his mind, he didn't care if he was broke.

Most of all, he _didn't_ care who the father was. Even if it was a bastard. The baby had been made between two people, but it took only _one_ to bring him to the earth. This child would get the life he deserved, even if it was with another family—but it was too early to consider that. Naruto needed a way to get some cash, and soon.

There was a knock at the door. Naruto stood and moved to door, it was late at night. Only one person would be visiting, because it was late at night. The blonde opened the door and let Sasuke in, neither of them meeting eyes.

"I didn't know you knew where I lived." Naruto said when the silence had grown to much. They sat on the pitiful cushions, opposite sides of course.

"Hn. I asked Gaara," Sasuke answered, looking everywhere but at the blonde. "He gave me some pretty heavy implications. He said I should come see you as soon as I could make it."

"A week later?" The blonde chuckled bitterly. He didn't mean to, but his words were harsh.

The raven scowled. Here they go. "You haven't been coming to school. And if you do, you avoid me and leave early."

"For obvious reasons! You have your army after me." Konoha had been vicious ever since that damn outbreak in the lunchroom. Girls and boys alike could be mean, but it had to have tripled since it had been Sasuke he had been with. Jealousy was an ugly, ugly thing, and apparently so was Naruto.

Sasuke sighed, "I don't have any control over that." Which was a lie in a sense. A snap from his fingers and girls would topple over, so it was possible he could command the people to stop harassing the blonde.

"Whatever," The blue eyed man crossed his arms over his chest. "I would offer you tea but I've been fresh out for about a month."

"Why?" The Uchiha stood hastily and had to be careful not to hit his head on the ceiling. "I didn't know you didn't have the surgery. But you had to have known. You live like this—" He motioned to the apartment, "—and still wanted to bring a child into the world?"

Naruto scoffed. "Just because I don't live in a mansion does not make me an unfit parent. Plus, that makes it even more likely that I didn't have the surgery. I don't have the money to get it. You know that."

Damn, damn, damn. True, true, true. Sasuke sat back on the couch, his fists balled with anger, but anger at what? Himself? Naruto? The blooming child? God, "Why did you let me sleep with you?"

"Why did you want to sleep with me?"

Sasuke was very uncomfortable. Why, why, why. The answer wasn't clear to him yet, he could formulate anything. He just wanted to hit the idiot—in the face for making him so tongue-tied, like a child. That stupid blonde invoked too many emotions and memories. This couldn't end anywhere good, not when the two of them came together. Like it had been before, years ago, bad. Why had he slept with Naruto? "From the way you speak, you're keeping it?"

"Him."

Sasuke quirked a dark eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Him, I'm keeping him." Naruto said. He had decided to have a son. Then he stood and moved to the door, opening it. "Goodnight."

"You want me to leave?"

"If we're done here, yes."

"We're never going to be done, dobe. I came here to try to support whatever decision you've made, my pride will not allow me to let you go this alone." Sasuke looked up at him with dark but sincere eyes. Of that, Sasuke was sure, he would help. "Do you want me to leave?" The blonde couldn't remember the last time they had spoken so much. Well, except for at the dance. But even then, not much talking had been done. Why, of all people, did it have to be Sasuke to knock him up? It could've been someone who wasn't so bastardly, so untouchable, so different. "Well?"

Damn it, the underlying meaning was in the ravens voice. Not really, not just because it was Sasuke, but just because Naruto didn't like being alone all the time. Since he'd been skipping school he hadn't had a lot of contact with many people. This would be classified under suicide, but Naruto shut the door. "I still hate you. So... much." Here goes the water works. "I freakin' hate y-you, Sasuke." Naruto slid to the ground, not wanting to sit next to the raven.

"I know." Sasuke wasn't sure what moved him, but he slowly crawled the short distance to the blonde, pulling him into his arms. Maybe it was appropriate. The smaller male was going to be having his child anyway. It was truly going to happen. No one could've predicted it, but this was the reality they would have to face. Even if they hated each other. "I'm sorry." The Uchiha mumbled as Naruto cried into his shirt. He even hit him a couple times, not that it really hurt or anything. "Truly, I am. If I could, I'd go back to the night—no, back to when we met—"

"Shut up!" The blonde pulled away, revealing his face damp once again. "Is that all you care about? I'm _pregnant_! Like, there's a _baby_ in here." He put his hand over his own stomach. "I don't care how much history there is between us—and there's a hell of a lot—I just need to get him here safely. Can you just please help me with _that_?"

Without a thought, or with several thousand, Sasuke leaned down and pressed his lips against Naruto's. Frustrated, desperate, and passionate. Because it was Sasuke's turn to do something suicidal. But mostly because he knew he could never regret Naruto or anything he did. And Sasuke had known that since elementary school, when he discovered some blonde kid had declared the two of them eternal rivals.


	3. Chapter 3

**Please enjoy. Your reviews have been great.**

"So, where's the father?"

"He was busy."

"Too busy for the first hospital visit? Humph."

Naruto looked away from the piercing gaze of Doctor Tsunade Sannin. Instead, he trained his eyes on his belly, wondering if he was imagining that it was slightly bigger. It looked like he had had a big lunch. But that was all. Just a big lunch.

"Well, you're definitely pregnant, a month along. Everything is fine in there. Have you been educated on Male Pregnancies and how they work?" Tsunade sat back in her rolling chair, reaching inside her desk and pulling out a small flask. As usual. Tsunade Sannin was Naruto's godmother, chosen by his mother. She wasn't much help financially even being a doctor, she had a bad gambling and drinking habits, blowing most of her pay immediately. She was only good for free doctor visits though the blonde man rarely got sick.

But now he was more sick than ever. Naruto shook his head, he knew next to nothing about being pregnant. He knew it was more dangerous than with females, more precautions.

"First off, you do not have a traditional vagina. Understand? All births from males are c-sections, which is tricky all on its own. Inside your stomach, you have a womb. It differs slightly from the female version, it's not as strong and tends to extend more as the baby grows. You'll be huge!" The curvy woman laughed. "Most boys get the wombs removed at birth. It's a simply procedure, we can perform it on babies afterall. Well, it's not really removing—more like disabling."

The blonde cocked his head. "But if its disabled, could a male still get pregnant by some sort of chance?"

"Of course. There's always a very, very, small and tiny chance the procedure failed. That goes along with any surgery anyone could ever get though. But I've never heard of it. But nothing is impossible." She took a swig of her alcohol. "Anyway, a lot of these types of births are premature due to stress or emotional distress. Your mood swings will be a bit more dramatic than the usual with women. But on the plus side, you'll experience almost no morning sickness. You don't have to stop eating anything but fish, raw meat, some cheeses and uncooked eggs. Apples tend to be very good for you boys, and you can still eat ramen but moderate it. Absolutely _no_ alcohol _or_ smoking for you whatsoever! Be ready for the usual like aches, dizziness, fatigue. Try to keep your iron up, these babies love to act like vampires and keep it all to themselves. Meet with me once a month, but come again if you think _anything_ is wrong, male pregnancies tend to need more attention."

"Okay," Naruto nodded, he could do that as long as it was free. "Thanks—"

"We're not through, brat! Now, remember, there is a child in your stomach. Any choice you make for the next six-ish to nine-ish months will directly affect him or her. I cannot stress enough how important that kid will be to you, Naruto. This is life changing, one of the _biggest_ things that can happen to you. And, you are a man. People do not like the fact that you are with child, protect yourself and that baby. Don't go places alone, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Have people you trust check up on you from time to time." Then Tsunade cleared her throat. "I have to ask again, as a medic, explain to me the situation you have with the child's father."

Naruto sighed, swinging his legs from the high doctor bed he was sitting on. "It's Sasuke Uchiha."

The busty woman sputtered on her drink and sat up in her seat. "_Christ_, brat! Really? Now I seriously wanna know what's up."

"It was a one time thing! It just—happened. Well, he still has a girlfriend sorta. He told me he would support me and the baby and whatever choice I make. But it's hard, I don't know what I want to do and he doesn't want to have a say in the matter. He's just there. But he spent the weekend in my apartment, he helped me clean it. I'm completely confused." It was true, right about now Naruto just wanted to bitch and moan. Sasuke was two different people sometimes—the icy bastard and the thoughtful sweetheart. It was too back and forth for Naruto's liking.

Over the weekend, the two boys had apologized and reached some common ground. Neither had even mentioned the kiss they'd shared, it was like it didn't happen. The blonde was even starting to think it hadn't. Then, right before Sasuke left, he pecked him on the forehead. Naruto almost decided to jump off a bridge. School had been hell. The whispers were to be expected, just the harassment had gotten out of control. Gaara had detention for defending his friend, something Sasuke should be doing. But the raven had just sat with Neji and Ino, scribbling in his notebook without a care in the world. It was that sort of thing that made it seem okay for people to mess with Naruto, Sasuke didn't care so there would be no backlash.

"He's going to need to meet you halfway, Naruto. The way it sounds, Uchiha has an unhealthy mindset at the moment, his life has been a fairytale up until now. Time will tell if he is a man of his word. Either that, or you could make off with a pretty large sum of child support and get outta this shithole town." The doctor hiccuped. "Keep in touch, preggo."

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Sasuke looked around his table in the library, irritated that they still had to travel by class. They were seniors for God's sake! He was sure they could handle going to the library of all places. He was seated with Shikamaru, Hinata, and Suigetsu. Across the room, Neji and Gaara shared a table, seeming to be having a civil conversation. Even their seats were assigned. The raven tapped his fingers on the wooden tables.

"Have you spoken to the idiot?" Suigetsu asked, chewing on the end of his pen.

"Do you really have the right to call anyone an idiot?" Sasuke whispered back, rolling his eyes annoyed. His friends were constantly looking for information on the happenings in his life and the smaller life that would arrive in some months.

"Psh! Smarter than that guy. C'mon, Sasuke. What's going on, why's he outta school, did he get an abortion, did you make him—"

"S-Suigetsu-kun!" Hinata whispered fiercely, her face turning red. "That's not appropriate."

Good thing Hinata had spoken up. Sasuke was about to lunge across the table and attack him. Just the mere bad-mouthing of the dobe had him all heated. He was making stupid decisions. Asuma-sensei turned around and pointed to their table, "Alright, you guys can go. Please make sure you get the right textbook."

Sasuke stood in a huff. He strode over to the bookshelves and began his search for the textbook Asuma had assigned. To make sure his students were listening, Asuma-sensei refused to tell them where the book was located.

As the raven filtered through novel after novel, the feeling of being watched crept up on him. It wasn't anything new but it annoyed him. Since he was in no mood, he turned and gave the full Uchiha glare to his stalkers. One fangirl flinched from the malice in his eyes but her friend continued to chew on her gum crudely. Then she paused, "You're in our way. Move." She drawled.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. What had she just said? "Excuse me?" Did she recognize who she was speaking to? "You're out of line."

She popped her gum and crossed her arms. "No, you are. Faggot." Then she shoved her way through the raven, squeezing her way into his space and forcing him out with her elbow. Her little friend trailed behind her. The Uchiha stood to the side in shock as they grabbed the required textbook and left.

What had just happened, would never happen again. His mind was working twice as fast as normal, he knew the source of his followers disobedience. If the word '_faggot_' had anything to do with it. It seemed all his problems stemmed from that blonde imbecile. Sasuke also knew he shouldn't be thinking like that, but he couldn't help it. His perfect rep, his perfect life, all his money—the years over kicking others from the social ladder was not going to amount to nothing. He was Sasuke' Uchiha and he would never be subjected to the ridicule that he placed on others.

Now that he had tasted the sweet and intoxicating juices of cider, he refused to ever settle for an apple. Sasuke didn't know how to go _backwards_ in life.

He wasn't a commoner. Naruto was.

He grabbed the book and hurried to check it out. He then asked to be excused to the bathroom, but instead he went to the gym.

Sasuke walked in casually, going to sit in the dark green bleachers and watch the girls who were at p.e., they were playing volleyball. It was a common thing for people to hang around the gym during free periods, no questions would be asked about his presence. He leaned back, letting his joints claim as much space as they liked. He waited patiently for the girls to take note of him, which came shortly.

Two of them braved it and approached him, "Oh, hi, Sasuke." One tugged lightly on the ends of her hair, turning her feet to point inward. "Did you come to watch us play?"

"Yes, I thought I'd find something interesting." He grinned, slowly leaning forward. "Can you tell me if I've found it?"

The girls looked at each other and shared a frantic giggle. Then they turned back to him and nodded eagerly. But, today wasn't really their day. When Sasuke said he wanted something interesting, he was referring to the pink haired girl that was about to serve the ball in the wrong direction. The ball bounded from the edge of the bleachers, hitting one of the girls in the stomach forcing her to bend over. The other shrieked and turned to look at the girl that was more lip gloss than personality. They scurried toward the nurses office.

Sakura took her time making her way to Sasuke. When she finally did, she sat on the seat just below him. "So, what're you doing here? We've broken up, faggot." She said the word with much more triumph than insult. Because she knew she had won.

"I've come to tell you were back together. Starting tomorrow."

"Why not today?"

"I have shit to do."

"A blonde to fuck."

Sasuke scowled and ran a hand through his dark locks. He had thought Sakura would have been more compromising than this, she had always pined for him somewhere in that place inside her chest. "Look, he's having my kid, I can't ignore him. It'll ruin me, then you wouldn't be happy either."

Sakura adjusted the spanks she was wearing, letting them snap back tight against her fair skin with anger. "I hate the fact he's pregnant. I mean, damn. I've been working on you since 7th grade and he only needs one night. God," She flipped her hair. "Alright, we can get back together. But I have some ground rules.

"Speak."

"One, you can't sleep with anyone but me, and that includes that loser. Oh, and you're _not_ getting _any_ for a very long time. Two, no smoking. Three, if I so much as think your stepping out, I'm gonna release a hell like you've never known. I'm serious, people think I'm weak and dirty 'cause of you."

"Why can't I smoke?" That was the only part her cared about. It was a nasty little habit he'd picked up from his older brother.

"Four, you have to try to help that idiot. Not too much, but not too little. And when you do do something, I am to be present."

Now, Sasuke smirked. "You care about him. Even after all this time." He laughed.

Sakura scoffed and stood, "I'm going to be a doctor, Sasuke. I can't ignore the innocent baby, that's all. Plus, you were right." She stepped down from the bleachers. "If you don't keep up the appearance of a respectable and responsible man, how are we ever suppose to grow up and have a legitimate, unsoiled, and a proper family of our own?" She flounced off, happy to be under the security of an Uchiha again. The same way he was safer with her than without her.

When Sasuke arrived home that night, he realized he had checked out the wrong textbook.

**I actually like Sakura the way I made her, so ambitious. The only person I hate is Sasuke, but I can't help it! **


	4. Chapter 4

"You're going to start showing next month,"

"I know, it's weird right?"

"No... more like gross."

"Gaara!"

The redhead shrugged and leaned back on his couch, still looking at his blonde friends stomach. Two months and it only looked like Naruto had put on a couple pounds. "I kinda want to see it already. Waiting for you to get fat is boring."

Naruto scowled from his spot on the carpeted floor of Gaara's home. The redhead, along with his two older siblings, lived in a nice house and were supported by other relatives who lived out of town. The place was big enough for each Sabaku sibling to have their own room and share two bathrooms and a kitchen. Currently, they were in the living room. "I still can't completely wrap my head around it. I mean, like, I'm gonna have to get two more jobs. You have to babysit for me, Gaara!"

Gaara leaned his head to the side, sighing and shutting his eyes. His blue eyed friend was still so naive, thinking just money was the only thing the kid was going to need. Uchiha would provide the cash, he would make sure of that or he would have his sister attack that pink haired robot. Temari was even more worried about Naruto than Gaara himself was, taking on a motherly role—which meant she got to smother everyone.

Reopening his eyes, Gaara spoke. "You don't have to do it all alone, you have all of us. You could even move in here, Kankuro isn't going to be back from Suna Uni 'till next year."

The blonde considered this. Granny Tsunade had told him to stick with people he knew and trusted. Plus he trusted Gaara more than anyone else in the world. But he already borrowed so much money from him, throwing in living expenses for two would be too much. Neither Gaara nor Temari had a baby in their stomachs, they shouldn't have to deal with his. "Thanks, but I can't. I helped make him, so I will be the one to do this."

"Don't be stubborn. Your neighborhood isn't safe, you could get hurt being there by yourself. At least let me stay the night on week days," Gaara rolled his eyes as Naruto moved to sit by him on the couch. "You're a child Naruto."

Said child laughed. "Children can't have children. I'm an adult and now I have to really grow up." Then he swung his arm around the paler males neck, squeezing hard. "Aww, you care so much!"

"You're lucky I can't do that to you." Gaara shook the blonde off and rubbed his abused neck. There was a pause. Then they broke into a small fit of laughter, rare for the redhead. "Naruto, you're actually pregnant. My bestfriend is knocked up!"

"I know, I know!" Naruto threw his head back. Things were too stressful, he couldn't remember the last time he was able to really laugh about anything. Not since everything had gone to shit. But here he was, giggling at the one thing that had been preventing it in the first place. The tan boy rolled over and let his head fall into Gaara's lap until they calmed down. Now, they looked at each other, blue and jade eyes still amused.

It was strange. They hadn't met until freshmen year, geometry class. They had simply been seated next to each other and hit it off. They shared similar backgrounds and hardships from when they were younger, the whole thing about being orphaned and whatnot. That knowledge alone had joined the blonde and redhead at the hip, it was rare to find someone to relate to in that way. Not to mention Gaara could actually stand the energetic-fire-ball that was Naruto. Now they were at current point where one of them had literally fucked up and the other had not abandoned them like everyone else.

Sometimes, Naruto wondered why it couldn't be Gaara, who he was with. They shared the same preference in partners, they had known each other for years. _Sometimes_, Naruto thought if just one of them, either one, made a move on the other... "You love me right, Gaara?"

"I do." The redhead nodded his head. He stroked his friends sunshine colored hair.

"Hasn't it ever crossed your mind?" Naruto lifted his hand to his own forehead.

Gaara shrugged one shoulder, pursing his lips lightly in thought. "At one point, once." He didn't need to be told what the other male was referring too. It had come time for them to talk about this.

"Why didn't you do anything about it? I wouldn't have stopped you." Naruto moved his hand to look clearly up at Gaara. "We could be in love right now. I met you before Neji."

"You're right. We could be in love right now. Wanna know why we're not?" He watched the blonde nod slightly. "Because we're too emotionally attached to ever see each other as anything more."

The blonde started to sit up, only to receive help from his friend. He adjusted himself on the couch cushion, noting how much more comfortable it was. "Explain what you mean, Gaara." He was feeling rejected. He _knew_ he was taking it the wrong way, that his friend was being honest, but it hurt all the same.

Gaara took a breath, "I was walking through the hall freshmen year when I heard some kids talking about how your parents died. Then I looked at you, how loud and determined you were. I wanted to be like that—or atleast friends with someone like that. You didn't let your past haunt you like I use to. I _admire_ you more than anything," He nudged Naruto's cheek with his fist. "Even though you're stupid. I can't tell you how to feel about me, but that's how I feel about you."

Leaning back on the couch, the tan male looked up at the ceiling. "I'm not in love with you Gaara. I just wish I was, 'cuz maybe then I wouldn't be like this." He sighed. "I would be funny though. Imagine how everyone would be at school—if they saw us walking down the hall holding hands."

The redhead scoffed. "It would be funny." Then he studied his friends face. "I'm sorry I can't replace Uchiha."

"What do you mean _replace_ him? I hate that bastard." Naruto scowled at the mention of the raven.

"Sure, Naruto. Well, then I'm sorry I can't replace his baby." Gaara shrugged for the millionth time. "Though its going to be really cute."

"You think?" The blonde grinned. But he quickly went back to frowning. "I'm sorry too! If circumstances had been different, _we_ could've been having a cute baby. Now, Sasuke-teme gets to have half claim to the awesome child I'm going to bear." Naruto snapped his fingers in defeat, being the over dramatic person he was.

Jade eyes rolled. "Are you having mood swings? Going from happy, to sad, to lovesick all in 10 minutes." He folded his hands in his lap. "I'm not prepared to handle that just yet."

"Can't help it! I'm afraid. I'm already not loved, I don't want him to be unloved too."

"I could name a handful of people who love you—Uchiha wasn't your first after all."

"Shut up! Well, You have Neji following you around on a leash."

"Yes, he does." Neji came from the kitchen, balancing three bowls of hot ramen within his muscular arms. "Alright, it's done."

"You even have him cooking for us!" Naruto threw himself sideways on the couch, exhaling loudly.

Gaara laughed at the display. "Did you hear us?" Neji nodded, small smile playing on his lips. "You're not mad?"

"Not at all." The brunette pecked Gaara on the forehead before setting the bowls on the coffee table. "You simply dismissed any insecurities I was carrying."

Naruto glared at the two of them, impatiently waiting for them to stop staring at each other with goo-goo eyes. He was jealous alright, and fat. He was getting _fat_ too. He looked up at the ceiling and ran a hand through his pointed hair. Now he could smell the scent of ramen creeping around the room and it calmed him, turning off the strange moods. He didn't like snapping at people, not only that, but he was retardedly honest too. He'd expressed some really true feelings only minutes ago, while Gaara completely understood, not everyone would. The blonde couldn't go around telling the truth and carrying a baby. That had danger written all over it.

He sat up and grabbed an orange bowl of ramen, twisting the noodles around the fork. He focused on blowing on his food before lifting it to his mouth, his mind wandering. He could faintly make out Gaara and Neji whispering to each other, not that he wanted to hear that. He looked over the walls of Gaara's home, realizing how nice it really was. There were pictures of his siblings, his parents before they died, and of an old woman who Naruto assumed was the one supporting them. Chiyo, their apparent grandmother.

What Gaara had said earlier was only half true. Naruto was loud and impulsive, but not because he didn't let his past haunt him. It was because he was afraid of not being noticed, he was afraid of his past and screaming was the only way to get away from it. As long as he had attention, someone would always be there to save him if anything went wrong. People could not forget things that didn't let them forget. He would be remembered...

As that kid who got knocked up

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Sasuke lifted his glass, taking a long sip of the bubbly drink. He set it back down quietly and looked up, at the smiling faces of the Haruno's. He exhaled through his nose silently, "I'm so happy to be having dinner with all of you."

Sakura grinned and raised an eyebrow delicately. "Sure, since you made them wait so long to meet you." Then to her parents she said, "Sasuke is afraid of commitment."

The raven knew exactly what the pinkette was playing at. She wanted her to deny that claim—prove her wrong with words of love and compassion. But not yet, Sasuke wouldn't play into her hands unless it was on his terms this round. "If I remember correctly, I asked you out three times before you agreed to one date." He winked just for kicks. He could practically see the annoyance radiating from the girl.

"Our Sakura has always been like that. She doesn't just go for anyone, you're special Sasuke." Mrs. Haruno smiled and touched the ravens shoulder lightly.

The night had been going on like this. Sakura and Sasuke having a secret battle of wits right under the noses of the pinkettes parents, who were too busy being proud of an Uchiha to notice anything. Sasuke had yet to introduce his girlfriend to his own parents. At least she understood the importance of such a thing—they would definitely have to stay together after that. Then again... Sakura could try to use that against him one day if he didn't do it soon. It had been a year after all.

"Sasuke," Mr. Haruno ended the battle. "Where do you see yourself after high school?"

The raven smiled pleasantly. "Well, after going to community college for two years, my father will have me work for him at Uchiha Corp. our family business. I plan to climb the ladder and defeat my brother for the title as president." The last part he said with a smirk.

"Uchiha Corp? Isn't that the leading manufacturer for computers in the country?"

"The Sharingan Desktop, yes." Sasuke nodded politely trying to look slightly bashful.

The conversation came to a pause when a buzzing sound came the front pocket of the ravens pants. He cleared his throat and slid the sleek black phone from his jeans. On the screen was the name 'Dobe'. Now, should he excuse himself to answer? Afterall, he was having a dinner date with his girlfriend and her parents. But on the other hand, the person in the other line was carrying his child in all senses. He simply hit silence and slid the phone back into his pocket. "Sorry, it was a private call."

"Private as in what?" Sakura rose that delicate eyebrow again.

"Private." Sasuke said. "As in, the person had blocked their number."

Mrs. Haruno placed her hand over her lips, laughing lightly. "Those are never good calls to answer. Someone is always playing a joke on the other line."

"Was that it, Sasuke?" The pinkette cocked her head to the right. "Was someone goofing around with you on the other line?"

Sasuke turned his dark gaze toward her, unbeknownst by her parents. He reached across the table and took a firm hold of her fingers. "Yeah, there was an _idiot_ on the other line. I just might have to call them back if I ever want to smile." The second part of the statement was heard by the Haruno's, who laughed.

Sasuke and Sakura leveled each other with their own secretive glares, before Mr. Haruno spoke. "Anymore cider anyone?" He lifted the bottle.

"Yes, please." Sasuke rose his glass, watching the sparkling drink pour into the cup. He lifted it to his mouth, savoring the taste against his tongue.


	5. Chapter 5

"Naruto! It's your turn to work the window!" Haku called, looking over his shoulder toward the blonde man shifting the fries. Said blonde nodded and hurried to go wash his hands. As he passed Haku, the brunette placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let them bother you. They're just immature kids, they don't understand." He was referring to some of the teens on the Konoha football team, sitting just in the corner.

They had been regulating the Kage Joint ever since news of a certain mans pregnancy had circulated. While they never did much at school, they were around almost every day Naruto worked, no matter what job he had for that day. If he was on cleaning duty, they would make a mess of the bathrooms. If he was working the register, they would make their orders as convoluted as possible, then complain that he got it wrong, even if it was right. One time, when Naruto had been making the burgers, they asked him to hold the AIDS.

There were four of them, two juniors and two seniors, and every now and then a couple girls would join them in the ridicule. They wore football clothing no matter where they went, a way to intimidate anyone with the thought of going against them. And for the last month, Naruto had become their newest and only target.

Naruto took a deep breath and stepped behind the cash register, waiting for them to have at him. He couldn't act out, not with a two month old baby in his stomach. Plus, Orochimaru was big on having the team come to his restaurant after games, bringing in a more than healthy profit each time. If Naruto ruined that, he could kiss his job goodbye.

One of the seniors, Naruto had learned his name was Hidan, walked up to the register. He looked up at the menu with a puzzled look on his face, as if thinking hard about what to order. Then he leaned over the counter, squinting at Naruto. "I don't see you on the menu." He whispered with a grin.

Sighing, Naruto replied, "'Cause I'm not. Please order when you're ready." He stared down at the buttons on the register, waiting. When no words spilled from Hidan's mouth, he looked up. "What would you like sir?"

Hidan continued to eye the blonde, his lips still holding a smirk. "I told you, what I want isn't on the menu. I'll wait for you to make an adjustment."

Naruto frowned. "Look, I just need you to order something—" The white haired male let his hand slip over the counter to reach over and tightly snatch Naruto's fingers. The skin contact sent a pang of fear straight to the blondes core, none of his harassers had ever touched him. One more thing to worry about. "Please, let go."

"Why? So you can go on working back there like you're not some kind of abomination? _You are a boy_." There was a dark glint in Hidan's eye. "Well... At least, I think you are." He tugged on Naruto's hand, causing him to yelp as his stomach was pulled against the counter. "Let's see!" He looked back at his friend who were all nodding in agreement.

"There's no way that's a man!"

"Real boys can't have kids."

"You hear that?" Hidan asked, his hand ever tightening. "There's no way you can have a dick if you have a kid in your stomach. Or are you just fakng? Is Sasuke Uchiha that good, huh?" Then he leaned over to whisper in Naruto's ear. "Wanna see if I'm better?" Before the blonde could shove him away, Hidan was claiming his mouth, intruding and stealing his breath. Naruto froze, then snapped his teeth down hard, biting the offensive tongue. Hidan pulled away quickly and clutched his mouth, moaning in pain. Naruto stood perfectly still, trying to wrap his mind around the damage he'd done.

"You're gonna pay for that, freak." The football player glared. He started to climb over the counter.

"You can't come back here!" Naruto told him, starting to cower back against the wall. Instinctively his hand came up to protect his slightly protruding stomach.

Haku ran up from the kitchen and stood between Naruto and Hidan. "Sir, I'm going to need you to leave before I call the police." He spoke calmly but firmly.

"Go ahead! My dad is sheriff anyway," Hidan laughed as he stepped both feet on the floor behind the counter, locking eyes with his blue eyed prey. "Plus, I'm sure no cop would defend a faggot guy like this."

"Well... I'm no cop."

Naruto's eyes snapped up to see another man standing behind the counter, hands crossed over his chest. He stood around 6 foot 4 inches, had brown spiky hair, and red triangle tattoos on each of his cheeks. He looked vaguely familiar. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you around, so that means you're new. Don't bother me." Still, Hidan stalked Naruto.

The man grinned a wolf-like grin. "I'm not new." He ran his dark eyes over the scene as he shook his head. "What's going on in here?"

Hidan turned around and matched the unidentified mans pose. "You said it yourself, you're not a cop so you shouldn't worry about it, Mr. Not New. Besides I was just about to have a lil' chat with my bud Naruto here." He reached back and grabbed the blonde pulling him roughly against his chest, making escape impossible. Despite not knowing the newcomers' intentions, Naruto let his eyes beg for help and plead that he understood that himself and Hidan were not even remotely friends.

"Really? The look on his face says otherwise." The brunette shook his head once again, "How about you let him go, you and your friends get out of here and then I won't have to make you leave."

Hidan frowned deeply. "Who the hell are you, to tell me I have to leave? You better learn your place in the town, new guy."

The stranger grunted and shrugged. In a quick movement he had Hidan by the shirt, shook Naruto loose and was hurling the white haired teen back to the appropriate side of the restaurant. Hidan fell to the floor and his friends hurried to help him up, "What the hell man?"

"That wasn't cool!"

"It doesn't have to be cool. It's got to be right." The man took a step toward the pile of teens and they scurried back. "Now, _leave_." He pointed to the closest door.

The group hightailed it from the place, yelling curse words and shouting about how they would be back with even more people. The man told them to bring it on. Naruto, who had slid to the ground after being released, hurried to stand after hearing the mans challenge. Hidan was serious about having reinforcements. If that happened, the blonde could only imagine the harassment he'd suffer. It would probably start happening at school too.

Haku visibly relaxed and said, "Thank you so much for that." He patted Naruto on the back and returned to his duties.

"No problem."

"Why did you do that?" Naruto asked, slapping his hands hard against the abused counter.

He man grinned that grin of his. "You don't deserve to be bullied. It was my responsibility—"

"No! I mean, why did you tell him to bring more people next time, 'cause there will definitely be a next time! How about you pick out my tombstone too?" The blonde turned and reached in a drawer to pull out cleaning supplies. He began scrubbing the counter.

The brunette slowly processed what Naruto meant. He ran his hand over his face. "Oh... I'm sorry." But then he perked up, clapping his hands together. "Looks like I'll just have to drop by some more. What days do you work?"

The blue eyed boy was so shocked, he took several moments to answer. "I'm off every Monday and Tuesday."

The dog like man nodded and adjusted the jacket he was wearing. "Alright, I'll be seeing you, Naruto."

The blonde watched his savior take leave. "Wait! You didn't even order _anything_!" But all the guy did was chuckle and keep walking.

-Line Break-

In all honesty, Naruto had no idea what to think of his new stalker—that's who he was, that brunette he'd met almost two weeks ago—a stalker.

He came in the middle of each day Naruto worked, asking how was he. The blonde would either reply by completely ignoring him or with an annoyed look. Then the stalker would order a number eight and have a seat, stay about ten minutes after he'd finished eating and just watch Naruto. Then, as he was leaving the man would always leave a tip in the little charity box by the register.

"Maybe he just wants to be your friend, Naruto!" Haku suggested one day as the two workers watched from the safety of the break room as the brunette ate. "It's not impossible."

"I think it is. I've done nothing to get on his good side." Naruto glared in the mans direction. "Plus, he's not making any sort of effort to even really talk to me."

"Well, you go talk to him!" Haku grabbed the pregnant mans shoulders and started to charge toward the stalker. Upon arrival, he forced the blonde to sit and smiled at the brunette. "I'll leave you two alone." He patted sunshine colored hair and skipped away.

Naruto kept his blue eyes trained on the table, his face red. What if this guy took out a knife and stabbed him or something? Or what if this was all a charade and he thought he was an abomination too? Maybe he just wanted to make Naruto lose sleep at night.

"Thinking a lot?" The man asked. They met eyes and Naruto could clearly see the humor on the other mans expression.

Without warning, Naruto started asking questions. Frustration from all the work his life had become boiled over. "Who are you? Why are you here? And I mean really, why are you here? Do you hate me? Why did you help me?"

The man held both his hands in the air, in surrender. "Whoa, there. My name is Kiba Inuzuka, I'm 21 years old and I just moved back to town with my dog. I swear I don't hate you, Naruto." He chuckled lightly.

"Don't talk to me like we're friends."

"But we are. Well, I guess we _were_." Kiba turned his head to the side, smiling. "If you think hard enough, you should remember."

The blonde frowned as he tried to think. This man was familiar after all. But who? Inuzuka... Kiba Inuzuka... He was 21. So, that meant he'd been out of high school for what? Three years? Naruto gasped and widened his eyes.

"I knew you would remember!" Kiba reached across the table and touched the blondes hand, like he'd done so before.

Three years ago, Naruto had been a freshmen at Konoha High, Kiba a senior. "You cut your hair, you got a tan. And you got tattooed. No wonder I didn't recognize you." Naruto easily took his hand back, looking away. "Why are you here? I thought you left for college and to carry on with your life."

"To eat?"

"I mean _really_."

"You're going to be mad at me, Naruto."

"I'm already mad at you."

"Okay," Kiba ran a hand through his brown locks. "I came back, first because I'm transferring. Second, I heard what was going on with you—" All the way in _Suna_? Naruto mentally cursed himself. "—I knew you were going to have trouble here, I don't want you unprotected. And that brings me to the point that's going to make you mad."

Already knowing where this was going, Naruto started to get up and leave. But with a baby in his stomach, getting up took too long and Kiba moved to sit directly next to him, trapping the blonde. "You hurt me!"

"I didn't want to, I swear, I never wanted you to get hurt." The dog lover reached for his hands again. But Naruto rejected the contact and scooted away as if Kiba burned him. "I came back because I want to make things right between us, whether you're like this or not..." He ran a gently hand over the bump under the younger mans shirt. It was the first time anyone had touched it, not even Gaara had dared. It felt nice. "I still want you, Naruto."

"How can you say that, after what you did to me?"

"I didn't steal your virginity, you gave it to me. Because you wanted me too." Then Kiba pulled him into a hug, one that Naruto's hormones enjoyed but his mind did not.

"You know confessing to me out of nowhere isn't going to make me jump into your arms." Naruto managed to pull away. He stared hard into Kiba's dark eyes. "It made me even more cautious than I already am. I wanna know what you're up to."

-Line Break-

_"Naruto!" A voice pulled the small blonde boy from a deep place, "Sweetie, please get up!"_

_"Ma?" The boy tried to speak but his mouth was filled with liquid. He panicked and tried calling out for his mother. Nothing was working, he was lost in the wet blackness. Away from his mother, his father, and his baby brother._

_"Naruto! You're going to be okay. Do you hear me? Naruto!" Kushina's voice was nothing like is normally was. It was raspy and desperate as she held her child face level to hers. "Listen, Naruto. I'm going to let go of you, my love."_

_"No—Ma!" The small boy felt his mother moving him, pushing him up and away. He wanted to stay with her. More blackness was swirling around them._

_"Focus, Naru-chan! Now, kick your feet and don't stop kicking until you can't kick anymore."_


	6. Chapter 6

"Hello, stranger."

Naruto turned to see who had walked up behind him, instinctively flinching away. He held his grocery cart infront of his growing belly with both hands. He took a minute to completely identify who was speaking to him. "Itachi... what are you doing in a store like this?"

"That all you can say to me?" Itachi Uchiha rose a delicate raven colored eyebrow, running his dark eyes over the figure that was Naruto. "I came here looking for you of course."

The blonde already knew this. What other reason would an Uchiha step foot in a discount grocery store, if not to see the person harboring the unborn child of their younger brother? He had only asked that question in order to cover his shame. Unlike between Naruto and Sasuke, he and Itachi got along relatively well. The older Uchiha was five years older, like a mentor of some sort.

"How about you tell me what Sasuke has gotten into this time? He won't talk to me, all he does is drown himself in our den." Itachi gently took the cart from Naruto's hand. He began walking, dumping groceries into it.

Naruto sighed and started to follow, "_Obviously_ we know what he got into." He watched Itachi shake his head. "No pun intended. How did you even find out, I thought Uchiha's didn't feed into the towns gossip."

The raven chuckled and looked up with a grin. "Deidara told me. He even guessed that Sasuke was the father. I used my own devices to figure that one out on my own."

An annoyed growl found its way to the younger mans throat. Deidara! He was a town troublemaker, someone Naruto had ran the streets with before the older blonde graduated. Now, they only met when Deidara wanted to include him in some moronic plan, that he knew Naruto wouldn't be able to resist. Deidara had been put to work with the Uchiha's as their painter or something. He had talent, but his crazy personality completely overshadowed any praise he deserved, except from Itachi—who was all too eager to have the long haired blonde man work under him. If anyone asked Naruto, there was more to that story. "Well, why'd he think it was Sasuke?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Again with the eyebrow.

"Because I hate him,"

"Do you?"

"I do." Naruto turned away from Itachi's prying eyes and instead focused his gaze on the shiny apples that they were infront of. Tsunade had said apples were good for the baby right? Checking the price, the blonde started to consider what to put back. Itachi saw his speculation and grabbed a large bagful of red and green apples, putting them in the cart. At this, Naruto blushed. "You don't have to do that... I can buy my own food."

"How many months are you, Naruto?" The raven asked, ignoring what the tan male had said.

"Three." He placed a hand on his stomach. "He's getting bigger."

For some reason, Itachi made a loud sound, like he was greatly frustrated about something. Naruto asked what was wrong. His response was another loud sigh, then Itachi spoke, "I am... so sorry, Naruto. I wish I could get my dear little brother to treat you right. You're both so young, it pains me to see how—how _estranged_ the two of you are, even before the kid gets here. This—this is the first time I can't do anything about a situation. I can't help my brother." This was also the first time Naruto had seen Itachi Uchiha so out of character, his calm and wise demeanor slipping. He was worried. "It has to be him."

The blonde lightly touched the ravens shoulder. "You don't have to do anything, Itachi. I might be your friend and Sasuke might be your brother, but this isn't your responsibility." Everyone thought they needed to help. Ever since word had gotten out, Naruto had encountered only two types of people: those who wanted to beat the living shit out of him and those who wanted to cater to his every need. No one had to do anything. A baby was not the end of the world. Naruto thought back to when he had been crying on the bathroom floor at school, he had thought his life was over. But he had only fucked up. "I'm not going to let this get me down, I got this." Sleeping with Sasuke without being in a relationship was where things went wrong, but something good would come of it—his kid.

By now, Itachi had composed himself again. He looked at Naruto with sad eyes. "You're brave. Sasuke should take a lesson."

Naruto cocked his head. "You told me he's drowning himself." The use of the word drowning put the blonde a little on edge. "What do you mean?"

Itachi sighed and stared out over the stands of food. Then he rolled his head back to look at Naruto, "He's circling the drain, Naruto. He doesn't know how to handle the stress of a child, he doesn't know who to talk to. That being said—even though the person he should talk to is you—he won't dare try to contact you. He thinks he's ruined your life."

"He hasn't." Not really anyway. "What if I call him?"

"So you can listen to his voicemail?" Itachi heard the sarcasm in his words and turned to give Naruto an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. It's just, you and Sasuke are weird to me. This... fluctuation you have, it's so unreadable."

"All I can say to you now, Naruto, is this: please don't give up on my brother." Itachi pecked the blonde on the forehead. "He's awkward, selfish, and cruel. But he's my brother _and_ an Uchiha, therefore I have the utmost faith that somehow he will pull through." He guided Naruto to the checkout lines, paying for the food items and helping pack them in the blondes car.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

_Sakura looked up from her lunch, startled by the noise of someone sitting down at her table. A smile broke out on her face when she saw the two boys she loved to see. Naruto and Sasuke. The blonde snatched a chair from the table and sat down, his brown paper bag in hand. "Sasuke, you're such a jerk! Why can't you go find somewhere else to sit?"_

_"I would say the same to you, but I trust you're not smart enough to find another seat."_

_Naruto went all red faced, causing Sakura to giggle. She listening to them fight some more before speaking, "You two fight like an old married couple. We're only in fourth grade."_

_This made the two boys roll their eyes at their friend. A squeal was heard from across the cafeteria, they turned to look. Ino was waving, her arm strangling Shikamaru's neck, with Choji and Hinata standing next to them. The blonde girl was quick to drag them over to the table and immediately began talking about things Sakura couldn't keep track of. But she smiled anyway. All her friends were surrounding her, and the best ones sat directly infront. Her sun and her moon. But the very best one was always the moon, him and his darkness. So mysterious._

Sakura woke up and sat up in bed, panting. She placed her hand over her chest and tracing her rapidly beating heart. Calming, she looked around the darkness of her room. She couldn't see much, but what she could see was Sasuke. He was sleeping soundly next to her, not the least bit startled by her sudden panic attack. Easily, she laid back down and cuddled closer to him. He wasn't warm, but she knew that he could be—and that was all it needed. Sakura knew that she couldn't have the sun and the moon, so she had chosen one that she believed could never burn her. Lately, she had began to realize that the sun would shine _regardless_.

**This could be viewed as a filler chapter, not a lot of action. But next chapter: Christmas Party At Ino's. Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Sasuke, you're not even in the spirit!" Ino pouted as she ran her eyes over the Uchiha's lack of Christmas attire. He was wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans. Nothing special, "I told you dress code would be enforced!" She spoke over the blasting music. She herself was wearing a very short Santa dress, her cheeks painted a bright red.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Sasuke was tired of standing in the doorway, it was cold, he started to step around the blonde haired girl. But he stopped when she trailed a red painted nail down his chest.

She look up at him through her eyelashes, "I could kick you out of my party..." She bit her lip softly, her nail running down Sasuke's stomach and to the start of his jeans. "Or I could undress you," Ino gave him a teasing smile, raising one of her eyebrows in suggestion. For a moment, Sasuke quirked his lips in consideration. Then he thought about what Sakura had said about having sex with anyone else—not that he was afraid of her—however, he just winked and pushed his way into Ino's house.

The two story house was decorated with Christmas lights and ornaments, too much for Sasuke's liking. From the banners hung streamers, a couple christmas trees were decked out with were people making out under the numerous mistletoes, plenty on girls lining up to sit on Santa's lap. Sasuke rolled his eyes, this wasn't a Christmas party—it was a role play orgy. He walked up to a tray on a counter and grabbed a red plastic cup. He drank the light colored liquid, it went down hot. He made a face.

After his second cup, from the corner of his eye, he could see three girls whispering on the other side of the counter. He turned toward them. They squealed in surprise and braved a tiny wave to him. Maybe it was the alcohol in his system kicking in quickly, but he shot them a smirk. They looked at each other for courage before circling the counter and standing before him. "Hey," One girl bit her lip, looking up at Sasuke from under long lashes. All girls had the same moves.

He sipped his drink. "Hey, yourself." Another drink.

"You wanna dance?" She rose an eyebrow, looking toward the massive crowd of people in the living room, grinding in time with the beat. It looked sweaty and uncomfortable, Sasuke nodded and downed the rest of his cup. Whatever was in that drink was really good. He grabbed another as each girl took hold of either his shirt or arm and pulled in to the makeshift dance floor.

He swayed as all three of them found someplace on his body to bump against. Sasuke was not the dancing type but was okay with indulging girls once in a while. The music was addicting like it always was, combined with the alcohol, it was dizzying. He put his hands on the hips of the girl who had spoken, feeling her jump at the contact. She soon relaxed into his body and turned to face him, even brave enough to steal the cup from his hand and take a swig. She giggled and looked up at him, "You're not even into this!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at her. She really shouldn't be talking, it was privilege enough to be dancing with him. "I'm never into anything."

"That's _not_ what I heard!" She laughed again, drinking from the plastic cup. He frowned. He studied her face, trying to guess her game. She had weird red hair, frizzy one side and straight the other. But then again that just might be because of the party. Her eyes were pale red, glasses hung from the front of her revealing shirt. But something else bothered him. "I bet you would know better if I had _blue_ eyes," Sasuke gritted his teeth against her words. Now it made sense. She and that dobe had the exact same shape of eyes, if hers were the same shade of blue it would be uncanny.

"You're his cousin." Sasuke started to the edge of the room, remembering that he'd met this girl once in elementary. Her family had once been in custody of the blonde idiot, but relinquished him. Leaving him to live in poverty.

"Hey, hey!" She tugged on his arm and regained his attention. She was still giddy, "I wanna talk to you and that's it. It doesn't even have to be about Naru—"

"But it will be." The Uchiha frowned and made his way outside, feeling her touch as she followed. They were hit by cold air, they sighed with relief. "What is it?" Sasuke asked, leaning against the sliding door, making it impossible for anyone to interrupt them.

"My name is Karin," She put back on her glasses, adjusting them on her nose.

"What?"

"I knew you didn't remember my name, and I knew you weren't going to ask." Karin smirked then stared down at the red cup in her hands. "Naruto is my cousin by blood, but there was no family bond between his mother and mine. Aunt Kushina was beautiful and my mom was jealous... Maybe that's why I can't stand to look at Naruto, he got her looks after all. He's beautiful huh, Sasuke?" Her voice trailed off in thought.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Where was she going with this? "Then why are you bothering to question me? I can't make you two friends." He hadn't spoken to Naruto in awhile anyway. He looked back inside the house, people were still dancing and he could see Ino leaning against a couch talking to some guy. Her dress was letting her ample bosom spill into a nice view. Sakura _wasn't_ even at this party.

"I don't know. I _think_ it's because I'm _trying_ to make up for it." Karin sighed. "My mom heard about him being pregnant and you know what she said? She said it was because Kushina raised him to be a bitch—don't look so offended, _you're_ helping at making it true." She pointed at him with the cup.

"No, I'm not!" Sasuke pushed himself off the sliding door and snatched the cup from her hand. "He can be what he wants." He finished the contents of the cup and threw it to the ground.

Karin laughed and put her hands on her hips. "Really? All the bitches you could've had, but you chose him. You're telling me it was _random_? Fuck that... Actually, I think I know exactly why you slept with him—"

Sasuke had had enough. He didn't want to talk about Naruto, he didn't want to have a child, he didn't want to deal with any of this. The raven turned toward the door but Karin slid in between his body and the exit. "_Karin_." Sasuke growled—there was no other way to put it. His voice was seeping with uncontrolled anger, his fists balled tight. He didn't want to hear what it was that drew him to the dobe. Anything but that. "Don't say it—!"

"You love him." There was a rush of heat and Karin found herself falling to the side, her cheek burning. She cupped it, looking up at the raven. She wasn't afraid, she didn't even care that she'd been struck by a man. Her buzz stopped all that. But what it didn't block was the fact that above her, Sasuke Uchiha _cried_. "I just want my cousin to be okay, you can help him do that because you love him, Sasuke. Ha, I can think back to when we were kids... He never smiled much. But I _bet_ you can make him smile."

He fisted his hair, grimaced and cried silently. Slowly, he sank to the ground, letting Karin wrap her arms around his shoulders.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Naruto yelped and dropped the bowl of popcorn he was carrying. Again. He sighed and started to bend over to clean it up.

"Got it," Kiba swooped in and began to clean the popcorn. Naruto frowned at him. Kiba shrugged, "I don't know if its safe for you to bend when you're three months. Plus I'm a gentleman." He winked. The blonde rolled his eyes and moved on to sit on the couch, next to Gaara.

"If you're so scared you shouldn't have agreed to watch any scary movies." The redhead pointed out, laughing at his friend.

"I'm not scared!" Somehow he'd been roped into a scary movie marathon with the Sabaku sibs, Neji, and Mr. Suspicious. The Sabaku's weren't big on Christmas which Naruto was okay with, he didn't want to receive baby clothes. Halloween in December as Gaara put it. Naruto settled deeper into the couch, watching Kiba as he brought him a fresh bowl of popcorn, "Thanks so much." Kiba gave him a smirk and settled on the floor, leaning against the blondes legs. As the millionth movie continued, Naruto slowly became aware that Kiba had actually fallen asleep on him, his head leaning at an odd angle against his knees. Psh, can't even stay awake. Naruto on the other hand was sure he would be up for the next 48 hours straight, which couldn't be good for the baby, he was sure. When the moment came that the girl had tripped in the woods and a killer had her by the hair, knife at her neck—Naruto squealed and pulled his legs up to the couch, effectively kneeing the brunette in the head.

The dog lover jumped up to his feet and snatched Naruto from the couch, arms securing themselves around the blondes shoulders. "What'sit?" He asked, voice heavy with slumber. He looked around for a threat, finding none he look at what he had in his arms, a blonde struggling to break free. "God!" He released the smaller male, then placed his hand on the small bulge of a stomach. "Is it okay?"

"My baby is fine!" Naruto smacked his hand away, replacing it with his own. He pouted at Kiba's reckless antics. Noting that Kiba continued to be the only person to touch his tummy.

Gaara decided to break the tense and awkward silence, "Well, that's that." He stood to take the movie from the DVD player. "Everyone, get the hell out of my place. Except you, Neji, you get your ass in my room. Merry Christmas to you all."

Kiba stopped outside Naruto's door, hands deep inside the pockets of his coat. He waited patiently for the blonde to pull out his keys. When the door opened he puffed out his cheeks. "Well... I'll just be going..." Kiba sighed, swinging his foot nonchalantly. He looked into Naruto's annoyed yet torn eyes and knew exactly what the problem was. Even at this age, he was afraid to stay alone after watching a scary movie. Paranoia was a definite companion for the tan male, plus it would be safer if he stayed. "You want me to stay over? Just like I use to?" He smiled at the blonde.

"Yeah," Naruto led the way into the apartment. Kiba said nothing about the small and slightly poor condition, he simply entered. "But this time you're on the couch. Sorry, I don't have a blanket for you either." Kiba said nothing about that comment but laid down on the couch, feet hanging off the armrest. How many time was he going to have some guy on that couch? Naruto scratched his head.

"Goodnight Naruto." The brunette called after the blonde had gone to his room. "Let's go somewhere tomorrow. My treat." He added as an after thought.

Naruto sat on his bed, carefully pulling off his shabby winter coat. Now what made Kiba think he would say—"Yeah." He licked his lips and pushed back the guilty feeling that was climbing up his throat. "Just nowhere too expensive." He would get some answers out of Kiba tomorrow then.

**A/N: Things are going to start picking up soon. Review.**


	8. Chapter 8

"He's safe. I know it," Naruto nodded his head, turning to look at Kiba, who was sitting in the drivers seat looking annoyed at the whole situation. "You don't need to worry about me when I'm with him." He turned back to the window and studied the raven leaning outside the café door, smoking a cigarette. He wasn't even looking at the blonde, he kept his eyes trained on the sidewalk. Naruto again turned to Kiba.

Kiba eased his grip on the steering wheel. "I just don't know, Naruto. He's been treating you like crap since the day he found out about you, why does he suddenly wanna hang out?"

"Maybe he wants to make it up to me. I can't deny him at least one opportunity." Then the blonde rose an eyebrow. "I gave you another chance too." He watched Kiba tense at this comment.

The story behind Kiba returning was a strange one, one that Naruto wasn't completely keen on but found it truthful enough. One; the pet adoption company he worked for had transferred back to its native Konoha, as the founders' son had always wanted. Konoha had more strays than Suna and Kumo combined, so there was more work. Second; the classes he was taking at Suna Uni had been cancelled due to lack of interest, and having nowhere to go, Kiba had come home to try again next semester. Third; he hadn't seen his mother or sister in nearly three years. And forth and most questionable; he had really heard about Naruto and his pregnancy and wanted to rekindle with him. Now when Naruto asked what exactly Kiba had in mind to rekindle, the reply was the most unbelievable part of the whole story.

"When I first heard about you, I admit to being a bit disgusted—I thought about how we were, I could've done that to you. But after finding out where you worked, and how those guys were treating you... You wouldn't _believe_ how angry I was." Then Kiba had grabbed Naruto by the face. "I wanted to kill them for touching you. It's irrational—and sudden, I know. You really don't realize how special you truly are. You have an ability to draw people in, you'll always have someone to help you, people automatically place their trust in you. Well, they say you never truly move on from your first love. Now, you can choose to accept me and we can work on it or I can leave." He had said.

And he was still in Konoha, which spoke for itself. "I didn't mean to make you mad." Naruto apologized. He nudged the brunettes arm. "He said he'll bring me home, so you don't have to wait up."

"Fine," Kiba relented and unlocked the doors. Naruto chuckled and opened the door, stepping out. He waved bye and waited until Kiba had swung around the corner and disappeared before turning to the café. He wobbled up to the door where the raven stood. That's right—he slightly wobbled with his four month old stomach now. Without a word, Sasuke opened the door and led Naruto inside, to the back and to a seclude table booth. It was farther away from any of the others, private. Instantly Naruto felt pain ring through his chest. This was already the kind of place no one they knew would ever show up. Why did they have to be isolated?

Sasuke sat and put out his cigarette, blowing the smoke away before motioning for Naruto to sit across from him. "Hello," He said evenly, dark eyes giving nothing away. "I see your doing _well_ with that mutt-lover?" Right to the point, huh?

"Don't call Kiba names." Naruto rolled his eyes, resting his chin on his raised fist. "He's filling in for your position currently."

Sasuke scoffed and tapped on the table twice with an irritated beat. He looked away, then back. "So, he's your boyfriend now? You work fast, you know that?" He rose an eyebrow, no humor evident in his voice.

Now it was Naruto's turn to scoff. The Uchiha was such a bastard! "What if he is? He's a hell of a lot nicer and kinder than you. And then there's the fact that he's around." The blonde didn't bother to contain his rising irritation at the raven. He paused and waited for Sasuke to soak up his words. "But if you must know, no we're not dating. Like I said, he's filling your position." So far, he'd taken care of Naruto's rent and attended doctor visits with Tsunade. The discussion of labels rarely came up in conversation.

At this point an older waitress stopped by the table, hair a curly mess. She took out her little notepad and pen. "What'll you have?" She clicked the pen.

"Black coffee and toast with light jam." Sasuke answered. "He'll have a ham and cheese sandwich and water." He the gave her a pointed look, telling her to get lost.

"Alright—"

"No!" Naruto protested, he turned to the waitress to give her a sly look. He winked, "We'll both have pancakes with syrup and whip cream! And do not be afraid to load his up with butter too." The waitress grinned at the blondes positive demeanor and nodded. She then skipped away to put in the order. Naruto turned back to Sasuke with a grin, happy at his annoyed face.

"You should be watching your sugar."

"Since when do you smoke?" Naruto asked instead. He occupied itself by playing with his fork and looking around the café. It was cute—a bit small, it cute nonetheless. Not the type of place Sasuke would be found at. Before hearing the ravens response, Naruto spoke, "Why are you hiding me?"

Sasuke furrowed his lips, as if expecting this question. He rose an eyebrow pointedly. "I thought it would be safer if we met somewhere nonchalant, where no one would see us. Not because I'm ashamed of you Naruto," He shook his head as if speaking to a child. "It's so that no one interrupts us or is violent toward you. I'm trying to protect you—so, yes, I'm _hiding_ you."

Naruto tsked at this answer, Sasuke wasn't lying but he wasn't telling the complete truth. The blonde leaned forward and studied the raven. Just what was so great about him anyway? He had that whole, mysterious and handsome thing going on—but purple bags lined his eyes, his lips seemed to be raw from cigarettes, and booze perhaps. He was pale, muscles played under his skin. But now he was unhealthy, not taking care of that God-given body now that his image was crumbling. Naruto thought suddenly—he was part of that destruction once again. They'd been each others kyptonite for years now. If one succeeded, the other failed, whether it be grades or class. It was shocking to be on the winning side for once, even though Naruto didn't feel very victorious. Back when they were younger, Naruto was usually the one to falter and fade, but now Sasuke was losing his grip.

The pregnant male jumped when a plate was sat infront of him and a sweet smell hit his nose. He stared down at his plate and mumbled a 'thank you' the waitress nodded and moved away. Naruto looked at the plate infront if Sasuke now, it was comically covered with syrup and whip cream, like a child's dish. The blonde let out a chuckle then turned away from the heated gaze from Sasuke. "If you really don't wanna eat it—" But Naruto stopped short when the raven lifted his knife and fork, beginning to cut into his pancakes. He moved with jerky and annoyed movements but Sasuke lifted a forkful to his mouth.

Swallowing, he finally spoke, "That's a truce." Then he sat down his utensils. He crossed his fingers and stared into blue eyes, "We need to compromise with this. Despite what you may think, I do want something to do with the kids life."

"Then why haven't you returned my calls? Or maybe you could've dropped by like you like to do so much." Mentioning it, Naruto's lips started to tingle with remembrance. The last time he'd really kissed Sasuke—he'd hadn't seen Sasuke so unrefined since the night... Since the night they had done the deed. "I've been worried sick!" Oops, that wasn't what he'd wanted to say.

"There's no reason for you to worry about me." If there was one thing Sasuke Uchiha could do, it was look out for himself. He was aware that he'd been indulging in cigarettes and alcohol a little more than he should, and he had no other excuse than his rep flushing down the toilet. He had been building himself up as a perfect man, and it drove him to to his edge with the fact that all it took was a blonde male to crush it all. Karin's judgment had only made him that much more mad. "How do you know what I'm up to anyway?" It wasn't like Naruto to snoop, and no one would possibly give him information. Except for one man. Sasuke slammed his fist against the table in sudden anger.

"Itachi only wanted to check up on me!" Naruto claimed. He twirled his fork in his hand nervously, feeling weird that he had spoken with the older Uchiha brother. Not that he had anything to be sorry about. He knew that but he still avoided shadowed eyes. "He was being considerate."

"You don't need _his_ consideration, you have _mine_." Sasuke sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. Naruto rose an eyebrow, taken aback. The raven was pouting. Even with the given situation, the brotherly rivalry was alive. A smile returned to Naruto's whiskered face, he took a bite of his almost forgotten pancakes. "Should you be eating that?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes.

Naruto shrugged. Was this okay to eat? They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Neither of them could think of what to say about that. They weren't educated enough on the pregnancy, but neither wanted to be the one to seek the information, at least not infront of the other. Honestly, Sasuke was beside himself with curiosity. He wanted to know what was going on inside Naruto's stomach but didn't know how to ask, not that his pride would allow him to. Did the kid kick yet? Was it going to be a boy or girl? How was it going to be delivered? All these questions jumped around in his mind but Sasuke kept his face indifferent.

"Ya know," Naruto started after several moments had passed. "I don't think I can completely hate you anymore, bastard." He placed both his palms over his own stomach, making small, slow circles. "'Cuz I already love this little guy."

Sasuke stared at the bump for a moment then stood. In one confident stride he had taken a seat next to Naruto, eyes still locked on the blonde tummy. Slowly but surely, he reached out a pale hand and placed it over Naruto's letting it rest there. "I just hope he doesn't get your bastardly ways, it'll make him ugly."

Sasuke let his head droop, his mind suddenly re-aware that he was dealing with a complete and utter fool. He grinned, "So, I'm ugly?" Still, his hand stayed planted.

The blonde made a face as he thought about this. "Yes, you're very ugly Sasuke. Usually, your face is always so pretty." Naruto reached a hand up to pinch one the the ravens cheeks. "But you've been getting very ugly lately." Sasuke laughed despite himself.

And just like that, that warm little feel crept up on them. It moved, slow and always started in the pit of their stomachs. That warm little feeling made its way to Naruto's cheeks and made him blush. He turned away trying to ignore the warmth snaking though his body, making him want to do things he knew he couldn't. While Naruto ignored this feeling when it happened, Sasuke seemed to embrace it and act upon it, raising his hand to the blondes face and meeting eyes. Their roles had reversed. Here Sasuke was, finally showing Naruto something real and he couldn't face it. "Naruto..." He sounded just like he had on that stupid night. The warmth reached their eyes.

But it was no longer warm. It was _hot_. _Red hot, burning, scorching_. The raven leaned down almost touching their lips together, but not hesitating. No, more like basking in the fact he was this close to the blonde, their breath mixing easily. Sasuke wanted to kiss him, he wanted to kiss Naruto for the rest of his life. Abruptly, the heat was gone and Naruto pulled away, eyes wide. The Uchiha took a moment to realize what had ruin his mood—his phone rang in his pocket. With a swift movement, the phone was out in the open for them to see. Sakura flashed on the caller I.D. Cold washed over them, shocking and violent.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Karin peeked her head through the door of the room, frowning at the blonde boy who sat infront of several toys but didn't touch them. "You're so _weird_! Why don't you do _something_?" She yelled at him, not daring to enter the room. He jumped and turned to look at her, but she was the one to retreat. Empty—his eyes were too empty for her to look at. Instead she ran down the hall, "Naruto, you are so _weird_!"

But the boy hadn't heard her. He was still trying to get his eyes to focus, he wiped them again. He looked around the room clearly now. The walls were painted blue, he wished they were orange. Why was he in there anyway? Oh yeah. His aunt was mad at him.

He refused to take a bath.

Naruto pulled his knees up to his chest, looking down at the toys. One of them was a boat. He wished his fathers car had been a boat, that way it would have sunk. It stung—it stung his eyes, his chest, his finger tips just think about it. His forehead fell against his knees. But most of all, it sunk. It sunk down somewhere deep inside his very core, it sank so deep he knew there wasn't a way to fish it out.

The blonde boy wasn't sure if he was glad he couldn't remember the whole accident, or if he was sad about it. He remembered his dad yelling as the tires slid across the ice and hitting his head on the window as they fell. It was a bridge, wasn't it? For a moment, Naruto had thought he was floating, his stomach stay up on the road though. The crashing sound had dazed him and he fumbled around in the backseat. Then the car had bounced momentarily and there was no noise anywhere. And then, suddenly there was noise everywhere. His mothers red hair flew all around, but only her arms reached him. She couldn't move. He didn't hear a word from his father. His mother had been yelling, screaming and trying to break a window with her limited movements. When it broken open, only one thing rose above the rest. "_Kick_!"

The water was icy cold. But when Naruto broke the surface, he fell back in, he panicked. He was only 5. His mother and father were down below, he should be there too. And his brother! He wanted to be a role model first. He wanted to be someone to make him proud. He wanted—

Wanting would get him nowhere. Somehow, by some force, Naruto's feet had found purchase and he found land. He laid on his side and chocked, struggling to breath in and out. He was still kicking his legs through. For a long time, he didn't stop kicking his legs. And when his finally did, he had passed out. By the time he'd awoken, his aunt was standing over him in the hospital, looking impatient. Both his parents and little brother had been buried the previous day, no funeral had been held.

And that was when the water had washed up on Naruto, and he didn't think he would resurface.

**Review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Great reviews, guys. Check out my poll after you read.**

"I'm very disappointed with you two, of all people." Kakashi frowned behind his mask. He looked at Ino and Sakura with one eye, the other concealed. He folded his hands across his desk, leaning forward slightly. "I hope you know this borders on expulsion."

This brought a defiant call from the girls. "Expulsion?"

"No way, this is stupid!"

"Kakashi-sama, do you really think this is a suitable punishment for us?" Sakura spoke again. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared directly at her principal. "He's been asking for it."

"He's been asking for it? Miss Haruno, do you understand what you are saying?" Kakashi asked, his eye wide. He shook his head, leaning forward even more. He tried to stress his words to the young ladies. "Naruto Uzumaki did not ask to ridiculed and tortured on a daily basis, by students who are suppose to be the cream of the senior class. And so soon after he finally returned to school. Why, you are both part of the student council and on the yearbook committee! Yet, you the take time to harass another student who is going through a difficult time."

Sakura sneered. "Difficult time? No, my period is a difficult time. What he has is a major issue, which happens to be a pain in my ass."

"That still gives you no right to be a bully."

"I think he should just man up and stop letting it happen." Ino chirped, looking at her nails bored-like. Sakura nodded, then faked a yawn.

Kakashi's shoulders sagged, seeing that this was going nowhere. "Please, girls, will you explain to me why you must bully Naruto? He's a good kid, honestly. I'm sure if you two sat down—"

"I'm not going anywhere near that freak." The pinkette stopped his words with a wave of her hand. She twisted her head to stare at the wall. "I know him. _Plenty_, I might add."

"Then why do it, Sakura? You are really stepping over some boundaries with your actions, it needs to stop or I will be forced to expel you, both." He looked at Ino for a second, then back to the source of the problem. He sighed through his mask.

"I do it because... Well, it's hard to explain. You had to have been there." Sakura's face drifted for a moment. Her green eyes looked far away and her mouth relaxed, she went someplace far back in her head. When she refocused on her principal, she stood. "I'll try to lay off the idiot, okay?"

Kakashi hung his head. "You both have two weeks detention starting tomorrow." The girls whined. "With Coach Gai." Now the screeched to themselves. They were lucky they didn't get a worser punishment. Kakashi had only heard rumors about them bullying Naruto, and if he tried to get true evidence, he was sure the girls had people to cover for them and their doings. This was the least he could do—still, he felt supremely helpless.

As the girls exited the room, Ino grabbed Sakura by the arm, yanking. "Way to go Billboard-brow! You got me dragged down with you!" She glared at the pinkette.

Sakura snatched her arm away. "Whatever! You barely even stood up for yourself, you were just going to accept any punishment he gave us. Be thankful I got us somewhat off the hook." She narrowed her eyes and placed a hand at her hip. Ino rolled her eyes and did the same. They fell into a tense quiet.

"Just _why_ can't you leave Naruto alone in the first place, huh?" Ino cocked her head to the side, giving Sakura a suspicious look. She slowly started to pace around the girl. "I mean, Sasuke isn't allowed to say a thing to him, yet you make a point to fuck with him every chance you get." Sakura shrugged her shoulders. "It's like you're _obsessed_ with him."

The pinkette scoffed. "As if! I just don't like how he has a tie to Sasuke. That's all."

"Mmhm." The blonde girl smirked. There's a start. "So, you are jealous. Naruto and Sasuke will always have a bond to each other, while you could just be left in the dirt at any second. Is that it?"

Sakura balled her hands into fists. "No, Sasuke needs me for his image. Whether you believe it or not, I fit him perfectly. Call me a bitch if you want."

Ino laughed, her ice cold blue eyes running down Sakura's figure, like a snake eyeing its prey. Within a second, her tongue snapped. "Lies! Naruto is the one whose perfect for him, and you're the one in the way. We all see it, none of us are blind Sakura. Sweetie, Sasuke doesn't want you anymore than he wants me. And let's face it—" Ino gave the girl a mock pout. "—I was nothing more than a few rounds."

"Shut the fuck up Ino!" Sakura pushed against the blondes shoulders, forcing her into the lockers. She took a step back and glared at Ino. "You've forgotten something in your _brilliant_ analysis. I actually _love_ Sasuke! Yeah, and I have since like second grade." Tears brimmed the pinkettes eyes. "You say everyone knows Naruto and Sasuke are meant to be. Ha! And where do I fit in? No—everyone forgets that I was there with them, _I'm_ the reason that they even met. What, was I suppose to step aside while my two best friends run off into the sunset? No!" She used both her hands to pull at her pink locks, shutting her eyes against Ino's blue orbs. She spun around and held her back toward the other girl. "No... I loved both of them, but, I don't want to end up alone. That's why I have to keep Naruto out of the picture, it's only harder now that he can have kids." The last part was said bitterly. She turned back to Ino.

Ino's face could be described as understanding, yet still judgmental and Sakura rolled her eyes in anger. She demanded to know what else Ino wanted to throw in her face. "You said you don't want to be the one alone. But if you'd shut up and look around, Naruto is already alone. And not because of you, he was left by his parents and family. You remember Karin right, they've come back to town and haven't even spoken to him." Leave it to Ino to know the towns gossip. "I see where you're coming from. I get that you want Sasuke too, that you've worked and purged yourself into the person suitable enough for him, but maybe your in love with status... God, how do I make you understand?" She threw her hands up in frustration.

"I don't have to understand it, I only have to put up with it." Sakura shook her head. "Like I have been. And about Sasuke! He owes me, we've been riding this roller coaster for years ...a-and I've seen Naruto in the back of his mind." Sakura slowly walked up to Ino, putting her hand on the locker and leaning in close to her fair face. "Do you know what it's like... for the man you love to call out another name when he's suppose to be making love to you? And without even realizing it? Maybe that's the _worse par_t, he does it unconsciously... so I know it's whats _real_. Then... I have to turn around and act like I didn't hear a think."

Ino shook at the seriousness of the pinkettes words, her face faltered. How could this run so deep? They were still so young—so many thing were to come and they were trapped in this circle of aggression—_Depression_. How were they expected to get over this? Love and lust... It was going to kill everyone. A little of this ran through each member of their posse, some with lighter degrees of this... madness, what else could it be called? Ino herself was addicted to her own face, vanity was her sin. But never had she seen such a concentrated dose of insecurity anywhere, like between the three of these people. They were mad, demanding, and lonely. Sakura refused to let go of her foothold, Sasuke was in denial of what he truly wanted, and Naruto—he was pregnant. God, why didn't anyone _help_? They were falling apart. "Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled. "Stop giving up on me."

The blonde took a deep breath. She blinked back tears and stared Sakura in the face. "I-I can't tell you what to do. All I do know is this, Sakura... You're going to lose no matter what. And it's not because of the baby, it's fate. You're destined to do something else, you can get out of this town and Naruto and Sasuke can't. But they'll be fine. You'll rot if you stay here watching them go on." Because a flower had to bloom using its own roots. It wouldn't work at night, with Sasuke, it needed warmth. It would be overshadowed and burnt by the sun, with Naruto. Ino could see this clearly, but saw Sakura struggling with the fact.

"But where do I go?" Sakura was not ready to let go. "No. I've been here since the beginning and I'm going to stay right where I am. Its not _fair_! Why did the clouds open up and choose me to be the loser? No! It's us three," She sniffed and wiped her eyes.

"Wrong three." Ino slid to the ground against the lockers. "You mean Naruto, Sasuke, and the baby... which I hear is a girl." She watched the pinkette storm down the hallway, then reached in her pocket to pull out a cigarette.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Dinner at the Uchiha Mansion went according to an unwritten code. First, the servants would set the table and alert the family and any guest that dinner would be served in 5 minutes time. Then everyone would make there way to the giant table and sit in their somewhat assigned seats. You never sat next to someone random—guests were expected to sit next to whomever had invited them. Despite popular belief, Sasuke and Itachi were allowed to bring 'friends' to dinner as long as they followed Uchiha protocol. After sitting, dinner would be brought out on the finest of china plates. The servants whisked around serving small portions to eat person, then again when that plate was finished. A simple wave of a hand would stop the re-delivery of another helping. It went unspoken that there was a two plate maximum, no matter how delightful the food. Uchiha's never stuffed themselves—how rude would it be to overindulge in something they knew was delicious. Throughout dinner, there were boxes small talk. Light subjects always, heavy topics were very, very rarely discussed at the dinner table. The person _must_ be wanting to make scene if they drop something serious, at such an airy place. When dinner was over, everyone went to the outside patio for casual wine and conversation.

Tonight was such a night. At the table tonight included; Fugaku, Mikoto, Itachi, and Sasuke Uchiha. That was all, but it felt like a crowd.

"Mother, father." Sasuke called, looking up from his plate. "I've gotten another man pregnant."

Silence. Fugaku froze with his fork in hand, staring at the table. Mikoto rose a pale hand to her mouth. Only Itachi moved, he moved to stand next to Sasuke, putting a hand on his shoulder. The younger raven was grateful. He looked at his father, who still stared at the table. "I've gotten him pregnant, and he is five months along. There is no chance that he will get an abortion, even if he could. I know for a fact that this is my child as well." Sasuke continued in an unwavering voice.

Fugaku slowly looked up, his deep black eyes menacing. His face slipped into a frown as he glared at his youngest son. "_What_?" He spat.

"I-I got a man pregnant." Sasuke missed a beat. He wasn't expecting this kind of slow rage. He was prepared for something fast, quick so that it would be over soon.

"You—" Fugaku jumped from his chair, slamming his hands against the table. "—_faggot_—what?" He moved from behind his chair, taking several steps toward Sasuke then pausing out of frustration. He slammed his hands down again. "A man? You got a man pregnant? Of all the stupid shit you could do! How fucking dare you do this!"

"Fugaku, dear. He's made a mistake..." Mikoto started, then trailed off, glancing toward her sons. She looked Sasuke in the face, searching for something, for some sort of answer to the problem. She took a deep breath, seeming to accept whatever look Sasuke had made. "He needs our help."

"To hell he does!" Fugaku grabbed the nearest chair, throwing it to the tiled floor. The sound of the crack echoed through the dining room, making the servants flinch and hurry to exit the room. "He needs more help than we can offer! I thought it was bad enough having one faggot son, now it's gone and _spread_." He wrinkled his nose as if smelling something bad. He ran a hand through his hair harshly.

"Father," Sasuke said, getting to his feet. "No matter what you think of me, I'm begging you, please support this innocent child. The circumstance of its conception are muddled, but it's still your grandchild in the end. The other parent cannot financially support himself and a child—he'll go broke in a month."

"Innocent. Grandchild. Broke." Fugaku hissed out each word. "Not only did you knock another man up, but a poor little fairy too! How fucking stupid are you Sasuke?" Fugaku stomped his foot.

Surprisingly, Sasuke scowled at his father. "Do not insult Naruto!" He took a step forward himself, fists balled.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" Fugaku rolled the name around in his mouth, knowing exactly who the other parent was now. He thought back years ago when that kid use to show up at his mansion, the two boys use to wreck the place with their antics, but it abruptly stopped. He had asked his youngest son what had happened to his blonde friend, but his son just shrugged. So, this is what they were up to now. "Oh, _of course_. And an orphan!" Fugaku slammed down another chair.

Mikoto finally got to her feet. She slowly made her way past her husband, not even glancing back at him, as she made her way to her sons. She wrapped her arms around Sasuke, her tears melting into his shirt. "Oh, it's little Naruto... I see, now." She sniffed. Kushina had been her friend—yet, she had no idea when the funeral was held. Mikoto remembered Naruto from when he was just a toddler and was ecstatic when he and Sasuke became friends. But when that stopped, she had no idea what to say to her son. She was disappointed in herself, she did nothing to help the child of her friends, and all because of her last name—there were no handouts in this family.

"Mikoto! Do not baby that stranger!" The head of the Uchiha family demanded. "I want him out of my house, now. And don't think of coming back."

Sasuke's chest caved in and he felt himself swaying. With the support of his mother and brother, he managed to stay on his feet, but his mind swam away. He was being disowned. Now his life was truly over. He wouldn't be able to support Naruto or his kid out on the streets. The media would be all over this, harassing him as he sat in his box. Naruto would be ashamed of him.

"Think about what you're saying!" Itachi spoke, his voice full of authority. He whipped around the table to stand directly infront of his father. They were almost the same height now. They glared at each other, a battle of wills. Despite his earlier comment, Fugaku did place a great deal of respect in Itachi's hands. "Sasuke is your son, he is an Uchiha. He's made a mistake and now you want him out on the streets. Is it because you're ashamed? Think about how he feels. Because the family name is disgraced? Grandfather Madara already did a fine job of that, yet still he's a millionaire—and your father. Scared of the media? We could easily cover this up, or we can embrace it and watch as the world sees the Uchiha family welcome another grand member to its heritage. Just think it over, disowning Sasuke will only make things worse." Itachi watched as the information sunk into his fathers brain. "We need to be a family more than ever."

Fugaku sat down in one of the chairs he didn't destroy, rubbing his temples. He stayed doing that for a long time, long enough for Mikoto to finally stop mumbling sweet and reassuring words to her youngest son, and turn to look at her husband. "Dear, I'm not letting you kick out any of my children. Certainly not my grandchild." She moved to Fugaku's side, her hand combing through his hair. "Dear?"

Then the strangest thing happened. The second strangest thing that had happened in Sasuke's life, behind falling in love with an idiot. His father looked up with water in his eyes—not tears. He had his hand over his mouth and his eyebrows knitted up with a mix of sorrow and rage. "Didn't I... Didn't I raise you right?" Fugaku asked, his emotions trailing deep. "I bought you everything you want, both of you. I made sure you did all your homework, made sure the nanny knew your skin was sensitive to sun, I-I even made sure the cooks made your favorite foods twice a month." He covered his face again. "This is my repayment! Never think that I never watch you Sasuke. I saw all the self-destructive things you were doing to yourself. Drugs and alcohol—and you know why I let you get away with it? Because I knew you were _weak_—I counted you _out_. You've always needed an image, to take yourself away from reality."

"Father..." Sasuke croaked but a quick wave of Fugaku's hand silenced him.

"Yes, you are _weak_." Fugaku approached his youngest son, his eyes having dried and his face set into a disapproving frown. "I should've known you would do something stupid like this. Yet, I gave you enough credit not to knock someone up out of wedlock. But, you are no longer _allowed_ to be the weakling of this family. You are an Uchiha—of my very own seed. I've let this go on long enough." The head of the family grabbed his son by the collar of his shirt, yanking him nearly off his feet. Mikoto squealed and hurried to lay her hands upon her husbands arm. Itachi stayed in place. "You will take full responsibility of this child. You will start working straight after graduation, you will calm the media, you will redeem yourself. I want him or her to be raised in the proper etiquette of an Uchiha—God forbid it end up like its pussy of a father. Or the poor, orphan one."

"Naruto would never let me have full custody. He cares too, he loves the kid." The raven stated, not sure if he should be feeling relief or dread. This was what he wanted, his father to help—but not in this way.

Fugaku growled, but he had seen this outcome. "Fine. Let the other boy have some custody. But have him mind, the child will have our namesake. And from that, it will be recognized as part of our family and not his." The man released his son. He started to leave, then paused. "One more thing, Sasuke. All of what I said will come to fathom, so it would be best that your little friend Naruto, cooperates. Despite what you might think, I genuinely take an interest in my children. Now that I'm going to have a grandchild—" He gave Sasuke a twisted grin. "—Let's say I would like to keep the courts out of this. Having to fight for my own blood, ha! Our family may be very unorthodox, but it's powerful. But as I remember, that blonde boy was quite hardheaded."

Sasuke nodded and took a couple steps back to steady himself. "Thank you... Father." What else could he say? The worse Sasuke would have to do is patch things up with Naruto. Fugaku would be pull most of the weight—even with Sasuke having to work at Uchiha Corp.

"Where did I go wrong Sasuke? What made you this way?" Fugaku asked instead, his back to both his sons. At least they were standing together. "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for the innocence of the child. You are the father—but you surely do not know how or are capable, to be one."

**This chapter is edited as of March 29, 2013. I made some changes to fix some confusion, I hope it's better now. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's an update. Your reviews are great, enjoy.**

"Hey, look at that boy." Sakura pointed a childishly chubby finger at a kid who was hiding under the slide. "I think he's crying!" She turned to Ino, and they giggled. Sakura then turned back to look at Sasuke, who leaned against the tree with his eyes closed.

"He's new here, huh?" Choji asked, his voice slightly muffled by the chips stuffed in his mouth. "Is he in our grade?"

"Hm," Ino placed a finger at her chin. "He looks like a fourth grader. I think so, whatcha think Sasuke?" Again, the raven was addressed but said nothing.

Hinata pulled at the fabric of her dress, looking toward the blonde kid, her pale eyes worried. She had seen him around recess too, he hadn't made any move to speak to anyone, finding a spot by the flagpole by himself. But he wasn't crying—no, he was just empty. He almost looked indifferent but the void look in those blue eyes of his, showed otherwise. Hinata had only gotten to look into them because their desks were paired together in the classroom. They were in the same fourth grade class; Sasuke, Sakura, Ino, and Choji were in the other. "H-He's in our grade." She clarified, now staring at the roots of the tree.

"Whatever, still, he's a weirdo." Sakura nodded her head very sure of herself. "Who sits alone two weeks into school? He should have _friends_!"

"Why are you concerning yourself, Sakura?" Sasuke spoke at last, his eyes opening, laced with amusement. "If you're so worried, go be his friend."

Sakura pouted down at the raven, the challenge in his voice making her want to roll her eyes. She shifted her tubby body to stand on one foot. It wasn't impossible, the kid was just shy or something. She would do it. "Watch me!" Sakura adjusted the bow in her bright pink hair and stomped off toward the slides. The rest of the group watched her for a ways, then got up to follow the show.

"Hey!" Sakura called out, almost to the blonde boy. He jumped at the aggression in her voice, turning to look at her. She extended her hand toward him, "Get up... you're going to come play with us." She waved her chubby fingers at him. In truth, she was trapped by the blank stare in his eyes. He was so desolate—like the walking dead. It was scary and she slowly retracted her hand, watching as his face remained the same. Now she began to wonder—why had she even taken notice of this boy in the first place? Suddenly, she didn't want to have any part of this, she didn't want to talk to this kid. But her eyes stayed glued to him, then something surprising happened. At the _exact_ right time, at the _exact_ right angle, the sun reflected right off the boys hair, making her squint against the sudden brightness. Sakura stood in the sand agap—it was like all the shadows around him had disappeared, his eyes still stood in the grave but Sakura saw this as potential.

The others caught up to the pinkette. Sasuke looked between Sakura and the boy, a dark eyebrow raised, "Told you, you don't have it in you Sakura. This idiot is useless, leave him be."

But Sakura didn't seem to hear him, which make Sasuke recoil. No matter how much she wanted to return to playing with her friends, this blonde kid... he should be able to play too. The teasing words from Sasuke only pushed her further—he may just be impressed when she befriended this boy. Hesitantly, Sakura kneeled in the sand next to the blonde. "Hey... really, come play with us. You'll have fun I promise." She wrapped her fingers around his, he tensed but didn't push her away. "C'mon?"

Naruto looked at her. Then up at the small group of kids who stared down at them curiously. His eyes focused on the judgmental boy that was Sasuke Uchiha. Sakura smiled at the blonde, "Don't worry about him. He's just being a bully." She pulled Naruto to his feet. "What's your name?"

The boy froze, now standing with the other children. The females looked upon him with eager faces, awaiting his answer. The overweight boy munched on his chips, having lost interest. And the raven haired boy glared at him, but still waited for his name. Naruto took a deep breath, finally really breathing for the first time in a very long time. The air was sweet, maybe a bit cold but that was okay. She said he would have fun, and he would. It was funny how an act of kindness did this to him—she reminded him of his mother in a way. This was hope. "My names Naruto Uzumaki. And I'm gonna—"

"Naruto? What a stupid name." Sasuke said rolling his eyes. He started away, motioning for the others to follow him. Sakura started to protest but was caught off guard when a hand reached out and took hold of Sasuke's shirt, forcing him to turn back to face Naruto. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"What did you say, bastard?" Naruto asked, frowning. Sakura squealed, there it was. There was a spark in his eyes, it was angry, but it was there.

Naruto had no idea what he was doing. He didn't want to fight—but he wouldn't have his name insulted. His parents had named him after someone important to them, his namesake would not be dirtied. Plus, it felt _good_. To do something, to be loud, to be aggressive. It made him feel alive, he could be beat to a pulp any second—and it made him want to fight harder. The arrogance, superiority, the prideful. This raven embodied everything that he would _never_ get to have. Why did someone like him get to have everything in the world?

"I called your name stupid. What are you gonna do about it, idiot?" Sasuke did not like this new kid grabbing him, Sasuke Uchiha, in the least bit. This little ant—how dare he raised his voice to someone so much above him. He had better learn his place. He acted like his words had struck a cord—but everyone was subject to the Uchiha's ridicule. A _nobody_ like him should be lucky to be going to the same school as him. Someone who came from nothing. Where did this blonde get this kind of nerve?

Later that day, Sasuke's parents were called and he was grounded for a week for getting into a fight. That would be the only time Sasuke Uchiha had ever stepped foot into the principals office, for getting in trouble. It would be the only time, because Sasuke swore to himself not to let another person ever have so much control over him again—it wasn't _natural_. Even later that day, Naruto's aunt renounced all custody of him to the state and moved to Kiri. Throughout his years in foster care, Naruto would have a total of three other homes, before deciding to live on his own his sophomore year of high school.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

"I'm assigning a seating chart according to last names. So everyone, get up and move to the back of the class, right now!" Ms. Anko commanded of her 7th grade class, waving her clipboard in the air. When no one moved, she glared. "If you little munchkins don't get up—all of you will fail the semester!"

The class tripped over one another as they scrambled to get to the back of the class. Ms. Anko started to place students in their seats, one by one until each student was situated. The desks were arranged in groups of four. Naruto gritted his teeth, feeling like he was being frozen. Sasuke did the same, edging closer to the end of his seat, like he was being burned. The other boy looked at them curiously. The girl only focused on Sasuke, her eyes lidded.

Naruto scoffed loudly before turning to glare at Sasuke openly. The Uchiha didn't bother—not wanted to waste his time with something so trivial. But after about 10 minutes of feeling Naruto's eyes boring into his skull, Sasuke turned. "I wish you would quit that, dobe."

"Hm, didn't know you had _wishes_." Naruto replied. "I thought you had everything you wanted." Sasuke then rolled his eyes and began taking notes on what Anko was saying. Naruto turned away and toward the left side of the room, a blur of pink catching his eyes. Sakura was hurriedly writing down notes, her green eyes focused intently on what she was doing. She had really slimmed down since elementary school. Naruto didn't know what to think about that, he didn't want to look away from her, yet he didn't want her to catch him staring. Besides Hinata—she was one of the first people to be nice to him. He didn't know what to think about that.

"Sakura saw you." A voice was next to his ear. Naruto flinched and turned away quickly, his face bright with a rush of color. He blinked his eyes twice before his ears recognized the snickering sound coming from the raven next to him. "You are hopeless. She doesn't like you like that."

"You're a jerk! I can't stand you," Naruto cursed the blush that only spread over his cheeks. Sasuke laughed even more at the display. "And how would you know anyway?"

"Because she _likes_ me." Sasuke grinned at the utterly shocked look on the blondes face. Did this feel good, or did it feel good? The bell rang and Sasuke started to pack his things. Before leaving the room, he looked back at Naruto, who wasn't so shocked anymore. He looked more along the lines of... Contemplating. And whatever it was the blonde was thinking, Sasuke had never seen such a deep look on his face.

/O\/O\/O\

Naruto leaned against his fist, drinking his milk absently. He stared at something above him. Ino tapped the table to get his attention. "Hello~! Anyone there?"

"Huh?" The blonde boy jumped. He found that everyone at their table was looking at him.

"We asked, Naruto, if you were going to sneak into the 8th grade dance with us." Sakura whispered, her face bright with excitement. The seventh grade wasn't assigned any dances, but it was possible to sneak in, through the back door, to the 8th grade ones. It was rare to get caught and the group had finally summoned enough courage to try it out.

"Believe it!" Naruto grinned. He sat his milk on the table, then took a deep breath, still looking at Sakura. "Hey, Sakura, you remember—"

"Sakura! We still have to take that test for Kurenai. Hurry up, we have to go!" Ino motioned for Choji to join them. Sakura nodded her head and lifted her lunch tray. She dumped it into the trash can and was out the door before Naruto had closed his mouth.

Shikamaru stood from the table next, claiming there was a nap waiting for him in the library. Hinata mumbled something and pattered off too. Soon, only Naruto and Sasuke were left at the table. The blonde wouldn't leave until his food was finished—it was about the only decent stuff he would be getting for the day. Plus, it was free for him. Sasuke only stayed because he wanted to insult Naruto. "Like I always say, hopeless." Then he exited.

That night, the group of 7th graders successfully infiltrated the dance. However, the moment was shortlived due to the fact that Sasuke had brought in a lighter. It was purple and expensive looking, but a real lighter regardless. When questioned about his actions, he would give no one any answer, just an Uchiha-worthy glare. It didn't help that Naruto was trying to wrestle it away from him when a teacher kicked them out.

"I can't believe you! Now I'm stuck out here!" Naruto yelled, stomping around outside the gym doors. He paced back and forth, trying to wrap his head around how angry he was. "You bastard!" He glared at the raven who had gone to sit at the picnic tables. Naruto marched up to him, "What do you have to say for yourself? Why did you even have _that_?"

Sasuke shrugged and pulled the lighter out of his pocket again. The teachers hadn't even taken it away, too afraid of his last name. "Shut up, dobe." He rolled the object in his hand, running his fingers up and down its shape. Naruto tried to see it more clearly, but the raven kept it from his sight. The blonde sighed loudly in annoyance—they were the only people not at the dance! He sat down next to Sasuke in defeat. Sakura was probably in there—"I'm moving Naruto."

The words were so sudden that it took Naruto a moment before he understood what Sasuke was saying. "Is that why you haven't been as bastardly lately? Don't get me wrong—you're a butthole—just not as much."

"Maybe," Sasuke opened his hand fully, revealing the dark purple lighter he held in his hand. It wasn't just expensive, it was beautiful—there were swirl patterns decorating the glass part and the Uchiha crest engraved the silver part. Naruto didn't know much about lighters, but what did Sasuke have this one for? "It's not for long, just so that my father can complete some kind of deal in Japan. A couple years max."

"Years?" Naruto was surprised. The raven would normally keep this information to himself, or rub it in his face. Then a thought occurred to him. "Sakura! She's gonna miss you." Sasuke scoffed and it made Naruto scowl at him. He really didn't appreciate anything! "You have to tell her, give her some answer. Wait—when are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

"What?"

"If you can't even understand that, I'm done talking." Sasuke said simply.

Naruto sighed, not knowing what to say next. Was his friend moving? Should he be sad? Well, his rival was leaving too. Should he be happy over that? "Ya know, even if you suck, you were fun to fight with while it lasted. Try not to freeze over Japan when you get there." He had to give Sasuke some props for igniting the fire within him. No, more along the lines of Sasuke keeping it lite with his arrogant ways. If it weren't for the combination of kindness from Sakura and rivalry from Sasuke, he probably wouldn't have resurfaced. His parents wouldn't have liked it if he didn't learn to forgive.

"I already told everyone who needs to know. Like I said, when I come back, I expect you not to be such an idiot."

Naruto rolled his blue eyes. "Watch, when you see me, I'm gonna be the _best_ thing that's ever happen to Konoha. No one will even care about you, not with _Naruto Uzumaki_ around."

"Hn. As if you could ever measure up to me. I beat you in everything."

"No you don't!" Naruto frowned. He thought hard—trying to think of a time when he'd beat Sasuke at something. Damn, it was harder than he thought. Then it hit him—"I held hands with a girl before you. If you ever have!" The way Sasuke's face laced with pink told him all he needed to know. "Ha!" A small win, but a win nonetheless.

Sasuke shoved the lighter back in his pocket. "W-well I don't have time to do that! You would have time since you're such a loser. I could if I wanted."

"Nope, no one wants to hold hands with such a jerk~!"

"Sakura would." Sasuke grinned.

"She doesn't count! She would hold my hand too, I bet. So, shut up!" Was that his comeback for everything? It just wasn't fair. Not fair at all! Naruto leaned back against the picnic tables. He didn't believe Sasuke when he said Sakura liked him—or atleast, she somewhat liked Naruto too. In truth, the girl he had held hands with was Sakura, which counted for something. But, he would not tell Sasuke this if only for the sake of their argument. He—He didn't want to reveal this information and hurt the bastard. It would be a huge blow to his ego if he did. It would be difficult to have any type of comeback and their rivalry...

"Hn. Well what about this," Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. Naruto looked up. "I've kissed a girl."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, staring at Sasuke's pale face. He scooted up next to him, trying to find signs of a lie. The raven was still red from their previous subject, so it was hard to tell. "If that's true... who was she?"

"You don't know her. She doesn't go here."

"Liar!" Naruto declared. There was no way Sasuke got his first kiss before he did! If the blonde wasn't waiting for Sakura, he could've had it a long time ago. No way! "I need some proof then!"

Both boys paused. _Proof_? How do you prove something like that? Of course, one way crept into their minds, and they both blushed at the thought. They couldn't do that. They were both boys and... well what did gay mean? It wasn't that much different from liking girls. So... then? Sasuke moved an inch toward Naruto, not one to back down from a challenge. He suddenly pulled them to their feet, his face even redder than before. Blue eyes went wide—he wasn't serious? Reaction time was way off for Naruto that night, next think he knew there was a pair of wet, sloppy Uchiha lips against his and his knees went weak. A tongue _unprofessionally_ wiggled around in his mouth, exchanging too much saliva. Still, Naruto's stomach grew warm. The moment Sasuke pulled back, Naruto started to fall forward. The raven caught him barely. "Omph—get up!"

Still, the raven helped him steady himself. Naruto kept his hand tight over his mouth, eyes still peeled wide open. "That real enough for you?" Sasuke's voice was low, a whisper. It caught Naruto off guard, and he furrowed his eyebrows. Sasuke patted his shoulder, as if congratulating him on something. Then he released him and took a step back. "Naruto, you really are the dumbest person I know!" His voice was loud triumphant. Naruto frowned and looked around, recognizing that tone. That was Sasuke's vicious ridiculing voice—but who was his audience?

Now, something terrible happened. Naruto couldn't remember it clearly, having wanted to forget it mostly. Years later, way after middle school and into his senior year of highschool; he would recall what happens next and speculate on if it made him stronger, or even more broken. He would compare that nights events to another moment in his life. By the end of senior year he would have his answer.

Sakura and Ino were next to Sasuke suddenly, the pinkette scowled and the blonde smiled. Sakura handed both Sasuke and Ino a five dollar bill. "Look, now you've gone and made me lose Naruto!"

"You bet on my first kiss?" Naruto asked, his voice still holding a type of hope. But his heart already knew what this was—betrayal. The bet wasn't if he had had his first kiss—it was if he would kiss a _boy_, and _Sasuke_ nonetheless. He had felt this feeling plenty of times in his 13 years of life. Whether from his foster homes or the absence of his parents. "Heh..."

"Oh, shut up! I can't believe you get to be Sasuke's first kiss." Sakura growled. Oh, so Sasuke had been lying too? She folded her arms over her chest. "You're not right for him Naruto, keep the fruit cake-ness to yourself. I don't wanna see it."

Despite himself, Naruto's eyes watered. They were banning against him. But what about Sasuke? It took two to tango. Neither girl faulted the raven for a single thing, like it had been Naruto who started the whole thing. "You guys are taking this the wrong way! I hate Sasuke—I trusted you Sakura."

"No, you trusted Sasuke. The day I pulled you up from that sand, you've been all over him." She said, her green eyes not breaking from his. "You fight with him, yell at him, chase him all over school. You always say that its me and Sasuke who were there for you, what did Sasuke do besides get you sent to the principals office? I was your friend—you stopped being mine when you started liking Sasuke."

Naruto thought about what she was saying. It was true, no matter how twisted the logic—in a way he _did_ like Sasuke. Even if he tried to explain himself, they had passed judgment already. He was no longer their friend. Something within Naruto snapped that day—but not what you think. He _didn't_ sink back into that water, he _didn't_ feel like he was drowning. The blonde felt like he was walking on _solid_ ground. He realized something—ever since fourth grade Sasuke and Sakura had been his crutches, Naruto gave them credit for every good aspect in his life. Since he had no one, the attention they gave him felt like it would be the last he ever got. If Naruto didn't cling to it with _all_ he had, it would disappear. And there it went. But no more, he would be responsible for himself! All things he did from that day on would be on his own accord. Naruto was old enough to be his own person.

No matter how stupid, Naruto would own up.

So, years later and into his senior year of highschool, Naruto would remember that night clearly. And he would do things of his own accord, and be responsible for it. By the time he was able to compare it to the other events in his life, his answer was absurdly clear.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

"I bet he's using you."

"Shut up, Sasuke."

"No, tell me. Just how good is the ssex?"

"Of all times for you to speak to me, you want to know about my sex life?" Naruto snapped, finally looking up from his papers and at the raven haired boy. They were trapped in detention together, the rest of the students either asleep or on their iPods. It was just his luck that he wasn't tired and had no iPod. Naruto growled, "If you must know, Kiba is fucking great. _Literally_."

Sasuke laughed, a slightly high-pitched and wild laughed. Naruto frowned at the display. He... Sasuke was high off something. Studying the raven further, his eyes were bloodshot and his hands wouldn't stay still. He was high. The blonde should've known when the raven crawled into the desk next to him, clearing his throat for a conversation. "Are you okay?" Naruto asked quietly.

"I'm fucking great. Ask Sakura!" Sasuke snickered. "Or Ino. Or Ayame. Or Mabui. Or any bitch you want. But not Hinata—Neji would just kill me~!" His smile slipped from his face and they fell into awkward silence, with Naruto trying to ignore him. This was no state for Sasuke to be in. His prissy boy body couldn't handle it, which was making it obvious. If the teacher were to pay a bit more attention...

"I'm not fucked up, if that'sss what you're thinking." Sasuke said, tapping his fingers against the desk. "I knew you were going to—be in _here_. I mean since you were gonna be here. I just... wanted to tell you hi or something and it didn't go quite as planned."

"Why would you want to tell me hi?" They didn't have casual conversations—they cussed each other out whenever they happen to pass each other in the hall. Then went on their jolly ways.

Sasuke shook his head several times. "No, I didn't want to say hi. Idiot. I wanted to say sorry, but it just _didn't_ happen. _Deal_ with it, faggot. Or what, is _Kiba_ going to beat me up?" He spoke quickly, the words almost running together. Sasuke was really not the drug type.

Naruto rolled his eyes. Only four more years. Then he and Kiba would move out of this stupid town and be done with all this. Sasuke wouldn't be able to reach him.

"You're... such a _fucking_... Idiot." The raven scowled at him, then sniffed. "I hate you for that." He put his head down on the desk and rolled into his own little drug-induced world. After the bell rang, Naruto contemplated waking the raven up. Then he decided not to.

**Well, I hoped you enjoyed that. This wasn't truly what I envisioned for this chapter. I couldn't put my thoughts into words, but thats something I must work on. Please review. But before you do review, take the time to read my chunky authors note below.**

**Some things about this chapter: Remember their ages and level of naiveness. In elementary school, people were a lot more accepting. By the time middle school rolls around, we all start feeling deeper and growing into the kind of person we're going to end up being. Sakura has been die hard for Sasuke since before Naruto sprung up, okay. Also, this chapter is pretty important to the story, a lot is foreshadowed. Shout outs to anyone who catches any hints!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Please review, and check out the results of the poll if you like. Shout out to bridmatt for guessing some of the clues in chapter 10!**

"Apologize. Right the _fuck_ now!" Sasuke Uchiha had never been so blind with rage ever in his life. He wanted to destroy the idiot below him, to ram his fist completely through his face then toss him from the top of the school and onto the concrete. His voice was surprisingly controlled, but his teeth seemed to be melted together. "Apologize." He gritted out.

Hidan coughed, his chest heaving with the earlier assault from the Uchiha. His back was firmly pressed against a desk, the front of his shirt was held securely in the ravens fist. His lip bled viciously. Hidan licked at the blood, "Why do you care anyway? He's just a little punk—"

Sasuke made a quick movement with his hand, causing Hidan to smack his head against the wood of the desk with a thump. The class cowered back to the walls, their cellphones raised to capture this moment of Uchiha recklessness. But Sasuke didn't care—he could stop the videos from being posted later. "I'm going to tell you one last time, you loser. Apologize to Naruto."

The white haired male was starting to wheeze from pain. He looked around at his friends who avoided his eyes. He couldn't believe this! Dammit. The classroom door burst open and the teacher made her way back into the class, a security guard on her heels. "Mr. Uchiha! Release him at once!" The security guard made way to grab Sasuke but the raven waved them off.

"Not until he says he's sorry for what he said about my friend." Sasuke growled, making Hidan hit his head once again.

He groaned, looking up at Sasuke. "F-Fine... I'm sorry I insulted Naruto. Now let me the fuck go!"

Satisfied, the Uchiha let go of the other boys shirt. He adjusted his shirt and let the security guard guide him out of the classroom. Before he had reached the door, however, Hidan ran at him, sucker punching the back of Sasuke's head. The boys started to wrestle, falling onto the ground and rolling. Sasuke managed to maneuver himself on top, hold down the football player with ease. He threw no more punches—satisfied with his earlier triumph. Hidan cursed.

Sasuke soon found himself inside Kakashi's office, arms folded calmly over his chest, door locked. "Hello, Kakashi-sama. How has your day been?" Might as well be civil about this.

"Well, fine until I got word of a certain Uchiha picking fights in the classroom." Kakashi rose a grey colored eyebrow in question. His hands were folded neatly under his masked chin and he looked at the raven to explain.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, leaning forward to put his elbows on his knees. He felt a headache coming on. "Hidan is the one who started it. I'm sure you've heard of Naruto Uzumaki and of our child?"

"Of course."

"Then you should know that I will no longer stand idly by while Naruto is slandered. I've been a bad person, especially toward him, but I'm going to try to make it up to him. And I'm starting by stopping the bullying. I never liked Hidan much to begin with," Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "He happen to be the first and perfect person to make an example of. Serves him right, Kakashi-sama."

The principal mulled this around in his head. He shut his only visible eye and scratched his head softly. While he could not ignore the fact that Sasuke had been fighting in school, which was clearly against all the rules, he was protecting an at-risk-student. Kakashi happen to be on good terms with the Uchiha family, he understood the toll that was being put on Sasuke. Shaking his head, Kakashi thought about all the times he'd walked through the halls and see Sasuke and Naruto arguing. They had really grown on him. "Three weeks detention. Starting today. You also have a referral and three discipline points. One more point and you _won't_ graduate."

Without another word, the raven took his sentence and exited to the hallway. He rummaged around in his pocket until he found his pack of cigarettes. He found his locker nearby, turning in the combination and retrieving his lighter. It was the same dark purple lighter he'd had since middle school. He rarely used it—though it had become very common lately. Sasuke couldn't even remember when he'd started smoking. But it was satisfying to him. Nicotine did things that marijuana and that one dosage of meth could never touch. For some reason, he found he wasn't very suited for being high. It always made him sick afterwards. But nicotine... _Nicotine_ suited him perfectly. The smoke was consuming, calming, blinding. It could be molded into whatever he wished—Sasuke was good at that. Lastly, it was shortlived. He would _always_ crave it.

The raven lit a cigarette now, taking it in short, rolling the small amount of smoke in his mouth. It stung his tongue and his lungs ached for air but Sasuke held it in. It was surprising how much a small amount of something could make his body scream. His heart was pumping faster and his head grew light. But as soon as he exhaled, his body would be relieved, and he would go right back to craving that _one thing_ that set him on edge before. It wasn't natural. The bell for next class rang and Sasuke hurried to finish his deed, heading off to history.

**/O\/O\/O\**

Now, Sasuke did not like irony. But over the last six months it had remained in constant company, never leaving his side. It stalked his every move, waiting for a chance to spring and capture him in its clutches. However, now irony had brought along its cousin—karma, to do some damage. Karma was a lot better at making Sasuke suffer.

The raven slowly made his way into the detention room, some old classroom filled with old sports equipment and broken desks. There were only five students, counting himself. Three were sleeping or on the phone. They looked up as the raven passed them but went about their own business. One was studying a textbook, his nose buried deep inside the writing. Too focused on his work for it to be natural. Naruto was trying not to acknowledge Sasuke. Which was virtually impossible since the Uchiha sat right next to him then scooted the desks together.

"We're going to talk about this. You are having my child, Naruto, so we have to get along." Sasuke whispered, glancing at the teacher, who paid none of the students any mind. The raven licked his lips then turned back to Naruto, "I know it's been hard—I've been a jerk, but let me fix this." He reached out slowly, desperately, taking hold of the hand Naruto was writing with. The blonde froze but still did not look at the Uchiha, he turned his face to the windows and stared. Sasuke sighed, waiting for Naruto to say something. Anything.

"I use to despise you. You always had everything I've always wanted—a family, money, a home. But now I look at you and see that all of that did nothing for you. You're weaker than I am, but you hide it inside." He answered softly, his eyes watching the clouds. Sasuke's grip on his hand tightened, "I never know what to say to you Sasuke. In all honesty, I think I should leave you alone. Then you show up, on your white horse and in shining armor, and I just want to melt." He let out a bitter laugh. Naruto finally turned to face Sasuke, the blondes face unreadable.

"Naruto..." Sasuke lifted his hand to Naruto's face, smoothing his thumb along the scars, his chest tightening at how much those must've hurt when he was a child. "I need you. Let me try to make this work. To make _us_ work."

"_Us_?" Naruto asked, rolling his eyes. But he leaned slightly into Sasuke's hand. "Your hands are cold." Sasuke was just thinking how warm Naruto's perfectly tanned skin was. It reminded the raven of the night they were together. Everything inch of Naruto seemed to warm and comfort him, even the hottest part burned Sasuke in the most... pleasurable way. "I don't think we'll ever work. We're too different, too distant. I don't know why but—but we can't be like this. We aren't the glue material, we're more like tape. Sometimes it might do the trick but..." Naruto looked into coal colored eyes. "It's never a good enough job. It's lazy, sloppy, and quick. It's what you use when you don't have any glue. Tape peels off eventually."

"Naruto..." Was that all he could say? Sasuke knew he needed to be fighting, knew he should just wrap his arms around his blonde and make him understand how he felt. "I love you." It was desperate. It was out in the open. A couple of the other students gasped, having started to listen to their conversation now. It would be all over Konoha in a few hours—how Sasuke Uchiha had fallen in _love_ with the poor, and sweet idiot who was carrying his child. Sasuke's hand wrapped around Naruto's chin. He kissed him lightly, feeling the blondes trembling lips. The raven wanted that to stop, to be able to stop Naruto from shaking. For a moment Sasuke surveyed Naruto's body—his stomach was swollen, he hardy fit in the desk.

"God, Sasuke, I want to believe. I want you to love me, but we don't know what love is. We only know each other. We've been thrown together all these years, never quite fitting right. We should've ended this cycle years ago, we let this drag on to the extreme." He placed a hand on his stomach. "I know your her father, and I can't keep you from her, but..."

"_Her_?" Sasuke felt his eyes wanting to water but he kept himself composed.

"Yeah, it's a girl." Naruto smiled, standing from the seat. He could leave when he wanted, he was only there to keep up with credits since he wasn't taking a lot of regular classes anymore. At least until his little girl was born. "I went to go ask Granny about it last week. Kiba took—" Naruto bit down on his tongue.

"Kiba? _Kiba_?" Sasuke gritted his teeth together. He wanted to throw the desk across the room. "Is that why I can't have you? Because he came back for you like he promised years ago? Is that it? News flash Naruto, he left you once and he'll do it again. You were nothing to him back then, what changed his mind now?"

"I don't know, maybe the same thing that changed your mind enough to fuck me!" Naruto yelled, "Stop acting like that! You treated me like shit at one point too, but now look at you. Declaring love, why didn't you come to the baby shower?" Gaara and Temari had taken the time to plan a small baby shower for Naruto. Only a handful of people had shown up. "Kiba was there." And Naruto knew he'd gotten the invitation, the Uchiha's had sent many gifts. Itachi had even gone as far as a crib, stroller, and play pen.

"I knew I wasn't truly wanted. Imagine, if I would have attended, you would not have had the time you had." Sasuke shook his head, still feeling guilty. "You can blame me for not attending but I would've been a fool to." It was true, even Naruto could admit.

They stared at each other for awhile. Silently, Sasuke stood, stepping to Naruto quickly. "Do not belittle my feelings for you." His voice was controlled, forcing the blonde to listen. "What I feel is real, I know that now. Somewhere deep inside you, you know I'm being honest. Even if it takes to the end of our kids life, I'll make you believe me. Just like you want to." Sasuke stated with such a finality that Naruto didn't bother to argue. But the blonde did storm from the room, ignoring the eyes that watched him leave.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Kiba sat on the couch, seething. He balled his hands into fists, then released, only to roll them back into fists seconds later. "How can you be so calm about this?" He questioned the pregnant male sitting quietly next to him. "This isn't right, Naruto! You shouldn't be living here."

The brown haired man was referring to the front of Naruto's homes, which was still smoking from burns. Someone had taken the liberty to burn the flowerbed that was stationed on either side of the door, causing the small apartment to have black smudges against the walls. It looked like the house was marked—to outcast Naruto and label him as something wrong. Kiba couldn't believe it. He had tried to wipe it away but the smudges only spread, the poor quality of the walls had soaked it all in. Kiba pulled at his hair, "Naruto say something."

"Sasuke told me he loved me today." Naruto spoke evenly, looking down at his hands in his lap.

The dog lover was taken aback. Then he was quick to kneel infront of the blonde, gathering his hands in his own and trying to catch his blue eyes. "And what did you tell him?"

The blonde shrugged, sadly, Kiba noted. "I don't know. Just that I wished I believed him. And that we couldn't be together." The brunette started to smile but stopped, Naruto still didn't look happy about his decision.

"Does that mean you'll be mine?" Kiba asked, his voice too hopeful. He knew the answer to this, it was all too easy to see of the blonde face. Tears were starting to build up in the younger mans eyes, Kiba wiped them away. "But why?" He had to know. He just had to know where it all went wrong, why he couldn't fix it. Things had been so different three years ago, had they really changed so much from then? Kiba had been the one that Naruto loved, and Kiba had loved him too—in a sense. Maybe their loves hadn't matched at the time but—

"'Cause I love him too. I-I'm in love with that bastard." Naruto admitted, not feeling any bit of release. Actually, he felt the weight grow heavier. He placed a hand on his stomach. "If there's one thing I'm getting from my six months being pregnant, it's that this baby wasn't made out of nothing. Not randomness, not lust, not confusion. Me and Sasuke have something. Besides our unborn child."

Kiba sighed, leaning his forehead against Naruto's and holding his face tight when he tried to pull away. "Sasuke doesn't know how to love, but I do. I can be the one to separate you from him. If you're with me, he can't get to you and he can't never hurt you again. You don't have to live your life glued to him."

For the millionth time that day, Naruto had a bitter laugh. In his subconscious, the blonde wonder what all this drama was doing to the baby. "He told me the same thing, about how you were just gonna hurt me. Oh, and me and him aren't glue—we're tape."

So, the tape vs glue analogy. That was the same thing Kiba had used when he broke up with Naruto before he left for college. It was cliche, but it got the point across. It was weird how history liked to repeat. "I still love you, Naruto. This isn't me giving up, just giving you space to think."

"Kiba..." Naruto shook his head, removing his face from the brunettes hands. "You don't have—" But Kiba silenced him with a quick kiss and was standing up before Naruto could further protest. Kiba moved to the door, saying that he would be back in a couple hours, and would be sleeping on the couch until Naruto made his final choice. And if that choice was not Kiba, he'd leave.

Seconds later Naruto was alone in his little apartment. It had been a long while since that had happened. Should he call Gaara? No, he wanted to be alone. Things moved fast. The blonde sat back against the couch, his back aching a bit. He'd just '_broken up_' with the two of the most intertwined men in his life, both of which claimed that they were not giving up. How should he deal with that? He didn't know, things moved way to _fast_. Naruto had come to the decision to stop whatever was going on between the three of them because it was stressful and he felt like he was leading them both on. How was he leading Sasuke on?

Naruto wanted to start fresh. No strings from his past holding him back. Kiba and Sasuke were his biggest baggage, but now his daughter would be here soon. It wouldn't be fair to her if her father was being held back by problems he couldn't even _comprehend_. So, now he was alone. But he had told Kiba he loved Sasuke? He did—Naruto loved both men in some way. But inside, he was truly in love with Sasuke Uchiha. It had taken everything not to cry when Sasuke had confirmed his feelings earlier today. There was no time for a happy reunion, in three short months the baby would be born. So, they were out of luck in that situation.

He was preoccupied with all things baby. The gifts from the baby shower were great, there really wasn't room to fit everything. When Tsunade had told him the baby was a girl, Naruto had cried. He hadn't wanted a boy in particular really, anything would be a blessing. He wanted his little girl to have everything she could ever want—which would be a definite challenge.

With so much to prepare for, he didn't know if his heart could handle anything more. Even if that was Sasuke.

**There you go, the baby's a girl! The gender was predetermined. The next two chapters may be short, but I'll have them up quick, hopefully. Review! 5 more chapters?**


	12. Chapter 12

**Has it really been that long since an update?...**

"Hold the bus!" Naruto called, sightly panting as he wobbled toward the city bus. He waved his arms and, thank the heavens, the bus driver waited for him to climb aboard. The blonde paused before stepping on, making sure the driver wouldn't just take off right before he got on. That had made him late to school last time. Since Sasuke had taken reign of his people, school had become safe enough to endure again. Naruto entered the bus, blue eyes searching for a seat.

Most of the people avoided his eyes, some stared with open disgust at his seven month belly. An old lady moved her purse into the empty seat next to her when Naruto had taken a step toward it. He found a seat next to a window, a bit away from the rest of the passengers. He was getting to school early so he wouldn't be caught in the crowd.

At the next stop, a woman with three children entered the bus. The mother glanced at Naruto, her eyes surprised at his pregnancy, before sitting in the seat across from him. One of her children—maybe 7 years old—had to sit next to him because the bus had grown too full. The boy stared him up and down with that little innocent look of his. Naruto quickly grew uncomfortable. He could see the mother watching them. Normally, Naruto would engage the kid in a game or atleast say hello, but he could sense that him talking would only make things—

"You're having a baby?" The boy asked, pointing a finger at Naruto's stomach. A blush flew to the blondes face. He nodded. The boy grinned and asked, "Is it gonna be a _boy_ or _girl_?"

"A-A girl." Naruto answered. He glanced up at the mother who seemed uneasy at her child's new interest.

The boys face lit up and he leaned in closer to Naruto. It made the blonde want to cry—the kid hadn't been touched by the ignorance of the society they lived in, yet. He was a cute kid, with spikey brown hair and a missing front tooth. He had a dark blue bandana tied around his forehead and continued to grin at the blonde. The boy reminded Naruto of when he himself was younger. "Sir, what are you gonna name her?"

Naruto wanted to chuckle at being called 'sir'. He wasn't use to this kindness anymore. "Well I haven't thought about it much, but I know I want it to be meaningful. It has to be a pretty name for her." It was true, Naruto had done a bit of research into names for his daughter but none of them felt right. Who knew it would be so hard to find a suitable name? He thought about people he could name her after—Kushina, Mito, even Temari—but it just didn't seem to fit. He'd spent about an hour on Gaara's computer searching through the web. He knew e concept of her name had to come from—

"Oh, this is my stop!" Naruto said suddenly, pulling himself from his deep thoughts. The bus was pulling over less than a block away from the high school. Naruto stood and looked down at the boy, "It was nice meeting you... what's your name again?" He smiled.

"Konohamaru!"

"Konohamaru." Naruto shook his little hand. He wobbled toward the front of the bus, threw a wave over his shoulder toward the boy then slowly exited. He stood safely on the sidewalk and caught his breath, suddenly winded. He happen to glance up at the bus as it pulled away, seeing the mother scolding Konohamaru and yanking him by his shirt to sit down. A sinking feeling overcame Naruto as he stood there watching the bus move on down the street.

But he managed to drag himself to the top of the stairs of the school, standing before the front doors. He couldn't do anything to help Konohamaru—in reality, anything he did would further harm the boy. Naruto pulled the door open, too deep in his depression to notice any of the looks he was getting. This went on for several moments, but then it became too much. Most of the students had gotten _somewhat_ use to his pregnancy but it seemed as though all of this had reversed, everyone looked pissed once more. The blonde braved analyzing some faces, yeah there was new anger. He happen across Ino's smirking face, and she nodded her head toward something. Naruto looked.

It was his locker—there was a heart-shaped note tapped to the center of his locker. Naruto looked around, the other students were angrily waiting for him to read it. The blonde took a deep breath, wondering what kind of harm this note would cause. He slowly peeled it away from his locker, reading the card. There was a quote:

**The love game is never called off on account of darkness.**

Naruto recognized it as a Masson quote. Underneath it was signed but he already knew who had sent it, of course it was—

"Who sent you that Valentine?" Sasuke asked his hand snatching the card from Naruto's hand, his eyes analyzing its writing.

The blonde watched the raven strain emotions over his face, before speaking. "I thought it was you, but I was wrong." Kiba had sent it. Naruto waited patiently for Sasuke to shake the anger off, the blonde played with his own fingers. "Look, Sasuke, it's not—"

"Does he not understand that this is wasted effort? I can send you millions of valentines if you want." Sasuke interrupted, swinging the note as if it were trash. "I assumed you wouldn't want anything—especially from me or dog-boy. But if its cards you want I'll arrange for some to be delivered to you. What candy can you still eat? Are you allergic to any flowers?" Sasuke rattled on about the gifts he would be sending to the blonde until he realized he was getting no answers. "Naruto?"

Instead of answering the other male, Naruto was looking at their surroundings. People had gathered once he had reached the note, but once it became apparent that it wasn't from Sasuke, the small crowd had dispersed. He sighed, leaning against the lockers. "Sasuke, I don't want you valentines, my feet hurt and I'm going to class. I didn't even remember it was Valentines day." To his surprise the raven shut up and nodded, handing him back the red note. "Thanks," Naruto secured it in his bag and brushed past the raven, not looking back but feeling his eyes boring into the back of his head.

**-Line Break-**

The lukewarm water trail down Naruto's back, rinsing away the shampoo that had to double as body wash. He'd run out of soap a couple days ago. But the stamps came in 3 days and he would be fine. He lifted his belly, washing under it and feeling his little girl muse at the soft feeling of being within his arms. It made him smile. But the moment was interrupted at the sound of his doorbell and Naruto leaned down to shut the water off.

He dried himself as quickly and safely as he could with seven months of baby hanging from his body. He throw on a t-shirt and sweats before making his way to the door that had been rung twice more. "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

Opening the door, he saw no one. But he glanced down to see a head of dark locks, looking up at him. "I thought you weren't going to open up. I was gonna stay here all night." Sasuke said, getting to his feet.

"You can just sleep in front of my porch—what would the neighbors say?" Naruto joked but didn't really laugh. He looked the raven up and down. He was carrying a blue paper bag, the label was something French and it looked expensive. "What's that? I told you _no valentines_, bastard."

"I know, idiot. It's not a valentine." Sasuke assured him. He motioned to the apartment. "May I come in and show you?" Reluctantly, the blonde stepped aside and the other male strolled in, grin on face.

"Okay, now sit on the couch." Sasuke said. When Naruto made no movement to obey Sasuke shook his head. "Would you please just trust me on this? It's not what you think."

"I trusted you once and now look at me." Naruto shot back, hands on his hips. Just what was Sasuke up to? It made him nervous. "You can't just burst in here and tell me what to do."

Mood swings, huh? Sasuke smiled. "Please?" After several moments, Naruto finally did as he was asked. He sat down with a huff, crossing his arms over his chest. Sasuke sat before him, on the carpet, facing his feet. The raven began rummaging through the bag, "So, where's Gaara this fine evening?" Small talk would keep Naruto from kicking him out.

"Neji took him out on a romantic dinner and _hotel_." Blue eyes watched as Sasuke took out a small bottle. "What's that?" He asked again.

"It's not what you think." Sasuke squirted a white liquid from the bottle and rubbed it between his hands. Then he grabbed one of Naruto's feet and started to... massage it. "It's not a valentine, it's not a five-star trip to the spa, but it's a simple, _amazing_ at-home foot massage." He chuckled at Naruto's dumbstruck expression.

The blonde couldn't keep his mouth up. Of all things... this was what the raven had been planning. Somewhere within his chest, Naruto felt warm. He wanted to giggle because Sasuke was tickling his feet and because it had to be the most endearing thing he'd ever seen. It was such a kind gesture, someone was treating him like he wasn't a monster—not to mention how good it felt. Walking around with this baby had really put some work onto his feet and back. "Sasuke..." But it was all wrong, they should not be cooped up in his pathetic little apartment acting like this.

"Don't make me stop. It's only a foot massage, Naruto." He said but they both knew it meant more. Sasuke was being there, being there for Naruto. Loving him... "I love you, Naruto." This time it came out with ease, like the raven already knew it was fact, the only person still in denial was Naruto. "Sit back and enjoy this."

Somehow, a foot massage had turned into a calf massage, then into a bare back massage. Currently Naruto was trying to ignore the hot breathing along his neck that Sasuke was producing on purpose. Sasuke had convinced him to sit on his lap, claiming he could support their weight. Each movement of the ravens hands was slow, precise, and sensual. Which was turning into a problem all on its own with the blondes hormones having a mind of their own. This was dangerous territory. Sasuke even had the nerve to place soft kisses along his shoulder blade, so soft that Naruto wasn't completely sure he was doing it. They were being _bad, bad, bad_.

Finally the massage had stopped, the raven wrapped his arms around the blondes torso, feeling the bare stomach, "I want it to be like this." Sasuke placed his forehead between Naruto's shoulders. "It's nice right?"

"Yeah," Naruto bit his lip, now was not the time to cry. "It is."

The other male shifted their positions, so that they were looking at each other. Sasuke leaned his face in close. "I don't mean to cause you any confusion, I'm not trying to hurt you. I just want to show you what I can give you. Not necessarily with money either. I just want you, Naruto."

Naruto swallowed thickly, nodding his head. Their hair brushed with each nod he gave. "I believe you, I believe you love me. And I... I love you too. But I told you already—I can't do this—_us_ right now."

Regardless, Sasuke smiled. "Honestly? Then why wait?" Sasuke placed a hand on the pregnant males stomach. "She isn't going to wait." Naruto still shook his head. "Okay, okay. We can do it your way. But I want you to move in with me."

"_Bastard_." Naruto rolled his eyes. "As great as that might be, I don't know if that's such a good idea." Living in the Uchiha house would be like stepping into a new world. There were rules and manners, he remembered from going there as a kid. But when he was little, he could leave if things got different. Naruto reached down to put back on his shirt, Sasuke handed it to him.

The raven smiled bashfully now. He reached up to touch Naruto's cheek. "I thought it would be harder to win you over again, I'm probably sounding like a school girl. I had prepared for the worst. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, I can't resist, that's just how I am." No matter what he and Sasuke went through, they were drawn to each other. It was like an unexplainable force of nature, a stroke of destiny. Naruto didn't have the strength to fight it, especially when it massaged his feet. "But what's this _win over_ thing?" Sasuke looked alarmed but saw that Naruto's face was playful. "I said we could try for some sort of relationship in the future. That could be a long time from now." The blonde shrugged.

"Yeah, when you think about 10 years from now. But not when you think about when our kid will get here."

"True."

The raven paused—hesitated, then reached down and grabbed something from the bag he had brought. He froze, then said, "I'm going to leave this with you." It was a small black velvet box.

Naruto immediately tried to scoot away from the other male, too shocked to even think about what was inside. Sasuke had lost his mind. "Are you serious? This isn't a game! Think _logically_, Sasuke." Naruto blushed.

"Nothing is logical when you're in love. You just don't understand what this does to me." Sasuke pulled the blonde back to him, pressing as close as the belly would allow. "I'm nowhere near stupid, dummy. I know this little box contains a huge commitment, I'm not asking you yet, am I? Just keep it with you. Eventually you're going to have to wear it but... I've never been truly in love, Naruto. I don't even know how to go about this."

Sighing, the blonde let a small smile creep onto his face. "For starters you can stop sounding like a romance novel! I don't want my baby to come out cheesy."

"Will do." The raven ran his hand down Naruto's chin, leaning down and placing a smooth kiss against his lips. He pulled away and looked into blue eyes. "I think I lost my mind somewhere between all this."

"What if this is just my hormones acting up? Making me emotional and vulnerable?" There was that chance. Tsunade had him on all kinds of pregnancy meds, his moods were changing by the minute. Maybe, at this very moment, he was swinging towards Sasuke. But what if after having the baby his feelings changed? It scared Naruto. Things were somewhat clear for once but the chance that it could all be muddled was still there.

"I don't know, could be. But even if it is, I don't regret a single thing." Sasuke stole another kiss. Naruto relaxed, letting his mind get carried away.

There wasn't a lot of things Naruto could say about the thing called love. He could say that it _ruined_ his life because it was stolen from him when his parents died in a car crash. He could say its _false_ because he ended up pregnant after a one-night stand. He could say it _torments_ his every days because he and Sasuke could never get it right. Or he could say its the the most wonderful in the thing in the world because his mother saved him, he's going to have an amazing daughter, and Sasuke turned into a hopeless romantic. That wouldn't even take a _mouthful_.

**Please remember how old Sasuke and Naruto are. Their ages contribute to their logic and feelings. Review, and a warning that next chapter shall be SHORT but VERY important.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Super short chapter ahead.**

"Sasuke!" Sakura called, spotting the raven haired boy at his locker. She took a deep breath before marching over to him. He looked back at her with an even expression. "Sasuke, why haven't you returned any of my calls?" A weak question, just because she didn't know what to say.

The Uchiha swung his head around to look into her green eyes. She already looked defeated, but she pressed on. It was something he somewhat admired about Sakura. "It's over, Sakura. Over." He spoke softly, only wanting to have to say it once. The pinkette shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"No, it's not. Now c'mon we're missing lunch," Sakura grabbed the ravens arm and started to lead him toward the cafeteria. When he pulled away, she turned on her heels to face him once again. This time she leaned in close. "You can't do this to me! It's wrong."

"Me and you together is wrong, it's time we stop faking." Sasuke told her. He shut his locker, calling for an end to the conversation, knowing it would go unnoticed.

Sakura stepped into his line of sight, raising her eyebrows skeptically. "Sasuke, _I_ wasn't faking. It was real to _me_! Why can't you understand how _I_ feel?" She shook her head at him, daring him to deny her feelings for the umpteenth time. Sasuke looked at her, really looked at her. He started to speak, then shut his mouth, hesitant. "You see? If you didn't care you would go on and kill me with your words." The waterworks were beginning and Sakura wiped at her eyes.

The dark haired boy bowed his head, shutting his eyes so that he could think. He thought about how much he owed Sakura. He thought about how long they were feeding off each other. He thought about Naruto and their baby and the life he wanted to have with them. He thought about how Sakura wasn't part of that life. "All I can say is that I'm sorry. There's nothing else I can do."

Sakura slammed her fist against the locker, gritting her teeth against Sasuke's words. She didn't want to hear this, not from him. Not from anyone! "What do you expect me to do? I planned my life out with you, now what?" She wanted someone to blame. Someone that she could filter all her frustration and pain and hopelessness onto. "Naruto—"

The raven help his hand up to stop her words. More tears ran to the pinkettes eyes. "Sakura... I can't even think of what to tell you. But you see this—" He motioned to the empty hallway. "This is only now. We still have lives to live—things to accomplish. This is high school, we can't hold onto forever. Unlike me and Naruto, you could get out and do something—anything you want, whenever you like. Remember, you are your own person, _not_ an extension of me." Sakura was not a piece of the puzzle anymore, not like when they had all been children. Back then, Sakura served as a peacekeeper between Naruto and Sasuke. Now the two boys had an unborn child. The baby wasn't a trap, but she was now their peacekeeper—common ground. Sasuke and Naruto had a foundation that Sakura had not made. Sakura wasn't being replaced, more along the lines of getting a solo career.

The girl clicked her teeth. "You sound like Ino-pig." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from Sasuke. So much was happening, she felt like snapping in two. But she was smarter than that. Everyone thought that Sakura lived for Sasuke, she herself believed that up until recently. But now everyone wanted her to stand on her own two feet and do what she wanted while letting Sasuke and Naruto be together. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she could let it be—but she was afraid.

"What is there to fear?" Sasuke asked her softly. Sakura looked up at him. Up until the end he could see right through her. He was nothing short of perfect to her. She shook her head and he swung an arm around her shoulders. "I'll help you. You wanted to get out of Konoha right? You wanted to go to Kumo for college right? Consider tuition handled."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"Think of it as a parting gift." Sasuke answered, throwing her an easy smile. "Now, how about lunch?" He turned the two of them toward the cafeteria.

She rolled her eyes. Only _Sasuke Uchiha_ could turn a horrible break up into a lunch date between friends. Nothing was really registering to Sakura, it would hit her hard later when she was alone in her bed trying to sleep. How long had it been since the two of them hadn't shared a bed? But fate had spoken and she was left with the short-end. "Hey, Sasuke. Are you really going to marry Naruto?" The rumor had been flying around the town.

"Well... It would only be appropriate. We are having a child after all," Sasuke sighed in thought. "It's a definite possibility. I think we should wait until after our daughter is born, so it can be more traditional and so that Naruto can fit into a wedding dress." Sakura laughed out loud at this comment, elbowing the raven gently.

Nothing was really registering to Sakura.

They were almost to the cafeteria when Sasuke felt a buzz from his pocket. Checking the caller I.D. he answered his phone, "What do you want, Itachi? I thought you would be checking in with Deidara today?" The older and dumber blonde had hurt himself playing with some fireworks. Nothing lethal at least.

"Sasuke! It's _Naruto_!" Itachi's voice was loud and panicked on the other line and it sounded like he was running.

The first thing that sprang to Sasuke's mind was that his baby was on the way and he was _missing it_. Naruto had gone into labor and was in the hospital. But then Itachi continued, "He's in the hospital! Someone tried—burn his home down and he's in the emergency room. But—wasn't the smoke or fire that hurt him, Sasuke, he managed to get out in time."

"Itachi!" The raven bellowed, causing Sakura to jump away from him in fear. She watched the boys face, seeing the emotions play across his dark eyes. "_What happened_!"

"Someone shot him." Itachi sounded crystal clear to Sasuke. "As soon as Naruto stepped out of his apartment and into his lawn, someone shot him and he's being treated for gun wounds. They can't tell how the baby is doing."

Then and there, Sasuke slipped into a place that he would probably never recover from.

**Please don't hate me! Review with your thoughts, all things happen for a reason. Shout out to those who catch who did the deed.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Lemon/lime ahead. BoyxBoy sex.**

"I'll be right back." Naruto whispered to Gaara, trailing a hand through his own hair. "I'm gonna hit the dance floor." Gaara nodded and replied that he would stay put with Neji, who had injured his foot playing soccer. Naruto gave a hug to Gaara, felt the object slide into his pocket and grinned at his red headed friend before turning toward the grinding students.

Yeah, this was the homecoming dance. Konoha had just beaten Kumo in the last football game of the season and it was time to celebrate by having sex with clothes on and calling it dancing.

Naruto wiggled through the bodies, swaying along to the pop music. He felt hands grab his hips and pull him aggressively against their body. Glancing over his shoulder he could see it was a pair of girls he shared a class with—one of which never stopped chewing gum. Whether or not they were aware of his preference for the same sex, he loved to dance, so it wasn't a problem. He bumped with them along with the music, letting their hands maneuver around his body, knowing there would be no arousal. The song ended and an even more popular one replaced it, now was his chance. Naruto separated himself from the girls as the floor was flooded with more students who wanted to dry hump. He was stopped by another hand, this time a guy was pulling on his arm. The guy was grinning seductively, his hands trying to pull the blonde closer. Though the flashing lights of the dance floor, Naruto thought the boy had white colored hair.

No matter, Naruto didn't have time for another dance. He shook his head no to the boy and maneuvered his arm from his grasp, turning way.

The blonde wiped the sweat from his brow and moved over to the food table, grabbing a cupcake. He slowly licked at the vanilla frosting, rolling the cupcake in his hand. He noticed some people looking in his direction, and vaguely wondered if his gay was showing. Probably. But he couldn't pay attention to that right now, he moved closer to the punch bowl. Excitedly, he ran his hand over the flask that Gaara had slipped into his pocket.

This dance was about to get _a lot_ more fun. It wasn't cheap liquor either.

The blonde easily turned to look around for any teacher, all of which seemed to be preoccupied.

The flask was securely in Naruto's hand when another hand shot out to snatch his wrist. Naruto cursed the heavens. There goes his GED.

"Just what do you think _you're_ doing, stupid?"

Then Naruto regrew his balls and pulled his wrist away. "Shh! Are you trying to get me caught, you bastard! This isn't exactly the kind of thing I should be doing." The blonde leveled his eyes against Sasuke's, their glares matching.

"Whatever. I'm not going to let you do this."

"Why? Scared a little alcohol will loosen up that stick up your ass?" Naruto poked him in the chest. "Or are you afraid of a little fun?"

"Well, I'm sure as hell not afraid of you. In reality, I just want to ruin your fun." Sasuke answered, smacking away the blondes hand. Naruto pretended to be hurt, moving from between the punch bowl and Sasuke. He held the flask between their bodies, hiding it from view.

"You've always liked picking on me." The blonde reclaimed the cupcake he'd sat on the table. He licked at the frosting again slowly, watching Sasuke's eyes narrow even more. "_I wonder why_."

The raven grabbed his wrist, stopping the blondes teasing motions abruptly. "I'm not here to play your games!"

"Then why are you here? I'm here to do the very thing I was about to do, before you came over to be a bastard." It was maddening. The idea of spiking the punch had come to Naruto days ago in a dream and Gaara had been kind enough to supply the booze. It would be hilarious to see the students show their true colors and be all in _one_ place! But then there's Sasuke _freakin'_ Uchiha arriving just in time to throw a hammer into his plans. Naruto frowned. "Let me go."

"I'm not letting you get everyone drunk," Sasuke spoke calmly, making the blonde that much more mad. "Just so you can have a laugh. It's not right or fair to those who have to drive home." It was true, the raven was playing the justice card. Even an idiot like Naruto could understand the danger it would put everyone in. And when other students were acting out, things would be harder for Sasuke to control. His posse had to stay clear-headed.

Naruto pocketed the flask. In a moment of blind bravery, he shoved Sasuke. "I can't stand you! You and your _shitty personality_ that gets you _everything_!"

The blonde felt the hard wood of the table digging into his lower back when the Uchiha took hold of his shirt and pushed him against it. "And you think I like you, with your _delinquent attitude_ and habit of blaming the _world_!" Naruto shook off pale hands and the boys broke into a fit of curse words and sizing each other up as students circled to watch the action.

"Sasuke! What are you doing?" Sakura marched over to them, analyzing the situation. "Naruto, leave him alone! Why are you such a nuisance?"

"Shut the _fuck_ up, Sakura!" Naruto answered, throwing his hand up toward her in annoyance. What had he ever seen in her? He turned back to Sasuke. "I'm surprised you let her off the leash."

"Say one more thing, stupid. You'll regret it." Sasuke promised.

Before that promise could be kept, Kakashi was there, separating the boys. "Alright, alright! Enough of this!" A teacher each took hold of Sasuke and Naruto, pulling them away from each other. Both boys still swung a line of insults toward one another. "Take 'em out of here." Kakashi told his staff.

Next thing he knew, Naruto was outside the gym and in the courtyard. Next to him stood a ruffled Uchiha with his hands in his pockets. Naruto blinked his blue eyes at him for several seconds. "You bastard!" The blonde launched himself at the raven, knocking them to the ground.

They locked into a fight, rolling around in the grass and trying to do as much damage to each other as possible. Finally, Sasuke gained the advantage and started delivering blows to the blonde beneath him until he was satisfied and climbed off. He surveyed the tan boy still in the grass. A busted lip and bruised face. Good. Sasuke grinned, "Go to hell, idiot."

"Fuck. You." Naruto spoke as he sat up and wiped his lips with his shirt. He saw Sasuke was sporting a nice bruise under his left eye, that was enough.

"What? Do you want round 2?" Sasuke danced around the blonde as he got to his feet, provoking another fight, his adrenaline was rushing. "C'mon!"

"Nope. I'm going home." Naruto was drained suddenly. It wasn't like he could go buy some Tylenol for his aches, so there was no point in fighting more. He walked past the Uchiha.

"Chicken." Sasuke thought that insult would be enough to push the blonde over the edge again, but it brought no response. Now the high had gone and the raven looked at the boy who was walking away. His clothes were ruined, and Sasuke knew there were no replacements waiting in a closet. Maybe no washing machine either. "Hey," Sasuke called, "I have some pain killers in my car you can have." Naruto stopped walking and glanced back the the dark haired boy who was coming toward him. "Honest."

"Whatever." Naruto answered, folding his arms over his chest and pouting. He hated handouts—even more if they came from the worlds biggest prick. He found himself being led to the staff parking lot. "You park with the teachers? And they say nothing to you?"

"Yep." Sasuke said smugly, grinning at the blonde. Said blonde rolled his eyes and took the time to examine the car. It was a black Cadillac Escalade, with silver rims and tinted windows. Naruto bet Sasuke had never seen a ticket either. "The pills are in the glove compartment." Naruto opened the passenger side door, the interior was cream colored with almost-black wood on the dashboard.

Overall, the SUV was the sexiest thing Naruto had ever seen. He felt around for the pills as Sasuke climbed into the driver seat, sliding it way back and plugging his phone into the radio. "You're not going to go home now?" The blonde asked, seeing the raven getting comfy.

"Nope." Was the simple answer as the pale boy looked through his music collection. He selected a song Naruto didn't know and sat back in his seat, looking out the window into the night. The blonde realized he had stopped looking for the pain killers and returned to his search. Finding the bottle, he emptied a couple onto his palm.

"Thanks." Naruto mumbled and took the pills.

"You don't use water?" Sasuke looked at him oddly. The tan boy shook his head. "Well then." He shrugged.

"Don't really feel the need." Naruto mused. He had to learn to take pills dry, not have drinks all the time. Silence overtook them. They had argued, fist fought, and made amends. Awkwardly, Naruto stepped away from the car to take his leave.

In the back of their minds, they both wondered if he really had to go. They had gotten kicked out of the dance, no one expected them to be anywhere, neither wanted to go home, did they want to be alone at this particular moment? Since their aggression had been handled for the day, Sasuke suggested, "I guess you could get in. I know you've never seen a vehicle this nice before, who knows when it'll happen again."

The blonde sat down on the passenger seat. "Psh! I expect a bastard like you to drive a thing like this. _Compensation_." Sasuke skeptically asked for what. "Oh, you know for what." Naruto flashed a crude smile.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "If this is your way of trying to see my cock, it won't work." He shook his head at the idiot.

"Funny you should take it _straight_ to that." Naruto shot back. "Sounds like there's other ways that _would_ work then."

Sasuke gritted his teeth at the hole he'd dug himself into. But he wouldn't let Naruto see that. "My cock is only for the selected few who deserve it." He spoke matter-of-factly. He turned to see the blonde sipping from the almost-forgotten flask.

"Mmhm. So I guess the entire female population of our school worked for that dick." Naruto laughed at the Uchiha. He passed the alcohol, which Sasuke accepted easily. "Must be a _hard_ job!" Naruto laughed again, this time at his own joke. But the raven cracked a small smile.

"That's what I hear."

"Me too."

The Uchiha rolled his eyes and went to pick another song. "You're truly the dumbest person alive."

"Thank you! I rather be dumb than stuck up." Naruto told him, taking a swig. He leaned over to watch as Sasuke looked through the music, identifying songs he knew and didn't know. He reached out his finger and tapped the screen when one he passionately cared for appeared. "This one!"

Sasuke scrunched his face. "Hn. This is so—" He cut himself short.

"So what?" Naruto rose an eyebrow. "Gay?"

Rolling the flask in his hands, Sasuke answered, "That's not what I meant. I would say a lot of things to you, but I would not insult you because of that." Now an uncomfortable air hung around them. Naruto stared pointedly at the raven who kept taking small sips and avoiding blue eyes. "I have no problem with guys that are... gay."

"I know that. Better than anyone right?" The blonde snatched the flask back. "I could tell a bunch of stories remember?" He rolled his sky colored eyes and sat back in the seat. Despite all the effort they put into avoiding each other over the years, Sasuke and Naruto had to go to school together. They'd have sorts of... encounters before that they pushed to the backs of their minds. Sometimes they had been hostile, others completely tame in ways.

Neither of them spoke for a long while, each caught up in their thoughts.

"I didn't..." Sasuke started, sliding his thumb over the blank screen of his phone, not looking at the other male. "I didn't kiss you that night just to hurt your feelings. It was Sakura's idea—" Sasuke held up his hand to stop Naruto's interruption. "—which is no excuse. But I wanted to see something for myself."

"And what was that?" Naruto asked, raising one eyebrow. He had a pretty good guess but he wanted to hear the raven say it himself. "We're big boys Sasuke, _I_ can handle the truth."

"Well, I can't!" Sasuke held his hand out for the flask. The blonde handed it to him and watched him take a gulp. The Uchiha was showing definite signs of a future alcoholic. "Look, I just wanted to know if I swung that way or not."

Naruto burst into laughter. He thought so, but the look on the ravens face was way too much for him to handle. Several moments pasted before the blonde was able to pull himself back enough to make a sentence, "_You_? The guy that gets more pussy than a gynecologist? And what did you figure out that day?" Naruto hated thinking about that night in Jr. High. So much had changed and he had to stop being friends with people he thought he could trust with everything. It was burdening and heavy, not something kids should go through or understand. And here's Sasuke Uchiha with a bit of liquor in his system, going into confession. Upon not getting an answer, Naruto finally stopped laughing. "You're... _kidding_ me right? Bastard... we've talked about this before, _you_ told _me_ no."

The Uchiha had a guilty look in his dark eyes, staring off into nowhere. Naruto scrambled away from him and against the car door. "_What_? You need to lay off the booze, dude." Naruto reached for the flask but the raven didn't let him have it. "Do you hear yourself, Sasuke?"

"I know, but I don't know why I'm telling you this." Sasuke looked up at him. "I guess that trust on my part wasn't ever truly broken."

Another sensitive silence. This time it lasted for a long while, maybe 15 minutes of the two of them just thinking about the situation. Naruto knew it would be better just to get out the car and walk home—not even ask for a ride or anything. He could clearly see Sasuke spiraling and wondered how long this had been kept a secret.

When Naruto came out of the closet his freshmen year, he'd had Kiba to help. Kiba was very well liked around campus and that helped smooth things over with other students. After Kiba had graduated and school came back around, Naruto was teased a bit but bold enough to become a 'loud homo' as others called it and not hide a single thing. No, he didn't skip around wearing ascots and perfume, but he would never deny it. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. It's who you are, embrace it."

"Tsk, easy for you to say. You don't have nearly the reputation I have. I'm not even sure about it yet—I like girls too." The raven put the top on the flask and set it in the cup holder. After a moment, he whispered, "You're the only person, I'm ever going to talk to like this."

"I think I should go..."

"And why is that?" Sasuke rose a dark eyebrow, his eyes rolled over to look at Naruto.

The blonde rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know," Naruto was blushing from the look he was getting from Sasuke. "Think about what this means." The other times...

"I've thought about it plenty of times. Whether I was aware of it or not, this has crossed my mind, I'm not afraid to admit it."

Tongue-tied and confused, the blonde could only stare as Sasuke made his way from his seat and across to Naruto. Pale hands reached up to cup his cheeks and dark eyes tried to look into blue. Naruto could feel his heart picking up the pace, his mind jumped to where this was going. As Sasuke leaned his lips down closer to his own, the blonde found his voice. "I-I... we... um..." Some voice it turned out to be, weak! But the raven paused, his eyes just about closed now they their mouths were inches—centimeters—from each others. Naruto knew if he didn't speak now, caution would be thrown to the wind.

Sasuke watched Naruto part his lips, hearing no words spill from them however. An invitation and not rejection. It was all the raven needed, he closed the distance between their mouths. They were both reminded of the fight earlier, their bruised lips making contact, but it was sweet nonetheless. Slowly, they moved their mouths together, careful just to test the waters.

Soon enough, Sasuke leaned closer, his tongue braving entrance into the blondes mouth. It brought a surprised sound from Naruto, which Sasuke took as encouragement, deepening the kiss. Pale hands slid down to grip the sides of the smaller boys hips, almost lifting him from the seat. His tongue grew more and more bold, now trying to take Naruto's mouth by storm.

While Naruto was no pushover, he let Sasuke do as he pleased. If he were to actively participate in this make-out session who knew where it would end up. But damn, he was getting turned on by all of this—_spontaneous intimacy_ was his favorite. It didn't help that Mr. Uchiha had already given in to the temptation. Shit, shit, shit. What to do? Was Naruto the only somewhat sober one left? The blonde wanted it, he wanted it bad right then and there, but did he dare have it? The shit it would cause. Sasuke pulled his mouth away with a smack, catching blue eyes with his own. He leaned in to the blondes ear, "Stop being so tentative." His coal eyes were narrowed sultrily, an obvious suggestion dangling in front of Naruto's face. Shit.

Naruto grinned and climbed over the armrest and into the Uchiha's lap, straddling his hips. Their lips locked again, the pain from their injuries heightening the pleasure they were trying to create. Naruto bit down on the ravens bottom lip, dragging his teeth against the sensitive flesh. Sasuke responded by slipping his hands underneath the blonde shirt, dragging his nails down a tanned back. It was intense, the breaths grew ragged and began to fog the windows.

Sasuke ran his hands over Naruto's back and down to the smaller boys jeans, taking a secure hold of his bottom. He rubbed it, feeling it though the jeans while Naruto sucked at his neck. Even with the alcohol in their systems, Sasuke felt the need in his own pants growing. He placed his hand on Naruto's chest, pushing him back. "Back seat." He panted.

Naruto nodded and clumsily opened the driver side door and climbed off the raven. Said raven went to open the truck of the car, amazingly quick with lowering the third row. Naruto walked around to see what he was doing now. Sasuke had laid down a red blanket that seemed to appear from nowhere. Hopping into the trunk, the raven laid down on the silky blanket, staring at the cars ceiling. Naruto swallowed thickly and followed in, shutting the trunk behind him. "How many other people have you had sex with back here?" There had to be a reason for the fluffy blanket.

"Just one other. Ino." Sasuke answered, folding his hands behind his head.

Naruto straddled him again, running his hands along the waistline of his jeans. "Really?" He lifted Sasuke's shirt over his head and threw it aside. He was surprised—at how that hadn't killed the mood.

Sasuke chuckled suddenly, smirking at the blonde. "Yeah. I've only had this car for a month, idiot." The raven pulled him down to attack his neck, sucking and biting ever so often.

A trail of angey red marks were just being made when they rolled over, with Sasuke on top. He made quick work of Naruto's shirt and undid his pants. He yanked them down with no protest from the blonde, revealing the smaller boys member. The raven hesitated, rubbing on the insides of Naruto's thighs. "Are you serious, S-Sasuke? Who's being tentative now?" Naruto asked, running a hand through his own hair. He laughed and sat up. "Lemme show you how it's done." He unzipped the ravens pants, slowly sliding his hand under the grey boxers. Securing his hand around Sasuke's length he gave it a smooth, strong stroke. A low moan came from the raven, and his eyes slipped closed.

Naruto continued his ministrations, running his eyes over Sasuke's figure. He was muscular, but somewhat lean. His skin was an even pale color, but not pasty. His cheeks were flushed pink and his lips parted slightly. Even his bangs were starting to stick to his forehead from the sweat lining his body. Naruto's admiration was halted when pleasure rang up his core. He looked down to see his own arousal being held within a strong hand. "Now, let me taste you."

The blonde found himself on his back again, his cock being handled by the mouth of an Uchiha. The raven placed one hand on either side of Naruto's hips keeping him pinned to the blanket. "S-Sasuke..." He moaned, trying to arch his hips to get more friction, wanting to feel more of the warm wetness. But Sasuke held fast. "Ugh... Sasuke..." Looking down all he could see was dark hair bobbing up and down and flashes of his swollen length being swallowed over and over. The sight was too erotic and too soon Naruto boiled over, spilling inside the ravens mouth.

Surprisingly Sasuke actually gagged. He wiped his arm across his mouth, throwing a look at Naruto, who shrugged innocently. The raven growled and threw the blondes leg over his shoulder, sliding his own jeans down further. Again he froze.

Naruto reached down to take hold of one of Sasuke's hands, raising it to his mouth and running his tongue over three of the digits, coating them with his saliva. Sasuke took in the site with hungry eyes. He didn't know it would feel like this with Naruto. He was having his kinks but the blonde steadily smoothed it over and made everything work. Once the raven crossed the line, he'd thought it be a lot more awkward than this—but this was feeling like magic, how easy they were fitting together in this way. After positioning his fingers at Naruto's entrance he leaned down to press his lips to the other boys, slipping a finger in. The blonde was relaxed and breathing heavy, understanding it was better to be prepared than sorry. Sasuke sucked lightly on his neck.

"That's enough." Naruto said, the three digits had had plenty of time to do their job. He wanted it now. "G-go on."

The Uchiha swallowed and stationed himself appropriately at Naruto's opening. He looked down at him, received a nod, but only lifted the blondes legs higher. He sighed, kissing Naruto's calf. Then he looked down at confused blue eyes. "I'm going in." He pressed forward, entering a safe amount inside the blonde under him. Only a moment had gone by when Sasuke pushed the rest of himself through. Immediately Naruto arched off the blanket and gritted his teeth together, cursing lightly. "Hn. Sorry, i-idiot" Sasuke mumbled, leaning his forehead between the smaller boys neck and shoulder. He waited until Naruto wrapped his arms around his neck before moving.

No amount of times Sasuke had ever had sex with anyone had prepared him for this. Being inside Naruto... he wanted to pass out just from the experience. It feel to good—this _had_ to be why people believed this was a sin. For Naruto, there was pain, but there was also immense pleasure. The raven had found his spot almost instantly, nothing Naruto thought was coherent any longer.

Sasuke pulled out halfway before pushing back in, being somewhat kind with his thrusts. He saw some of the body bruises Naruto had gotten from their fight earlier, he didn't want to hurt him anymore. On the other hand, Naruto was no wimp. The blonde could feel the raven holding back and treating him like a flower. He started to meet the Uchiha's strokes, enticing harder and deeper thrusts from the boy above him. They both shut their eyes feeling the heat between them crawl toward completion. Naruto scratched his way down the ravens back and shoulders, his voice getting higher and higher with every hit on his sweet spot. Sasuke had one hand gripping Naruto's leg tight enough to leave another bruise and the other on the side of his head, supporting some of his weight. Their breath and sweat mixed, the windows of the SUV were impossible to see out of.

With a loud cry, Naruto came over their stomachs, conscious of Sasuke watching his every move. He shook from the effect and felt the _warm chill_ of the raven filling him. Sasuke bit down on the blondes neck as he released, his shoulders slumping. He laid his forehead against Naruto's, "I-I guess that wasn't so bad." Moments later he pulled out, hearing Naruto hiss at the action.

"Yeah... not so lame." The blonde returned the smile. He tentatively turned to face the raven, his body screamed against his movements. "For you're first true gay experience."

Sasuke stared at the ceiling of the car, his hands folded behind his head. "Oh no. That wasn't the first time I've had sex with another guy."

"_What_?" Naruto wanted to sit up and gawk but his body refused. "What do you mean? Then what was all that—that _hype_ for?"

"That's because it was with _you_." Sasuke said matter-of-factly. "It's the first time _we've_ had sex." He glanced at the blonde, then back at the ceiling. "It was kind of scary, really."

Naruto understood what he meant. It was scary because Sasuke had a girlfriend, because they refused to act like friends, because they were never any good for each other. They always damaged something when the two of them were together. That was something they knew—if Sasuke and Naruto got together bizarre things went down. But now, they had never felt so whole and complete. Like they were meant to fit together for once. The hell were they gonna do? "What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" The Uchiha continued to look at the ceiling. "You get out of my car and go home. We don't tell anybody, and life goes on."

"Just like that?" Naruto's jaw dropped. Naruto waited for an answer. He waited until his body stopped aching and he was able to move. He waited until he was fully dressed again. He waited until he took another pair of painkillers. He waited until he got all the way home and took a cold shower. But Naruto stopped waiting when two weeks later he had thrown up an entire bowl of his favorite ramen all over Neji's new sofa.

But Sasuke was waiting too. He was waiting for the day he was brave enough to pull that blonde back into his arms and hold him until _each and every_ bruise disappeared.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

Naruto stood outside the classroom wringing his hands. He'd just announced to the class inside that he needed to speak with the 'biggest prick alive' out in the hall. Everyone had written it off as a prank of some sort and rolled their eyes at him, even Iruka-sensei went on with the lesson. As soon as Sasuke stood up, Naruto had cowered into the halls. Now how did he say this? Did he just come out straight? Or should he see if—

The raven was standing before him, annoyed look on his face. "Stupid, what do—"

"I'm _pregnant_!" Naruto squealed then stepped away. So, the direct approach it was! The air hung around them froze. The only sound was the class continuing on the other side of the wall. Sasuke's mouth opened, then closed. He rose his hand up as if to ask a question, then dropped it. "Sasuke. I'm serious, I'm pregnant and I have the _proof_—at my house. I _only_ took a test because I lost my lunch all over Neji's living room! Gaara told him that I was just sick then he took me to the store to buy a test." He'd spent all the money he had on multiple tests, needing to be sure. He thought about telling Sasuke over the phone, or making Gaara do it, but in person was always best. So, here he was, telling him.

Silence.

"Are you trying to _trap_ me?" Sasuke demanded, balling his fists at his side. He took a step toward the blonde. "This is not the kind of game I want to play with you, dumbass." He couldn't believe what he was hearing, Sasuke would not believe what he was hearing. There was no way he had gotten... What kind of cruel world was this? Naruto, for him to tell him something like this...

Blue eyes widened, stumped by the accusation. "I'm not playing any kind of game! Why would I joke about something this serious? You know me—you know I'm not toying with you! I am _serious_."

"No, no, no. You're not going to pin this on me—_you're_ pregnant. There's no way to even prove its mine." Sasuke shook his head, his face going blank. Like a wall. "We've been through a lot, but this is _not_ going to be added to that list. If _you_ really _are_ pregnant, you're not going to pull me down along with yourself." His obsidian eyes looked straight through Naruto, not wanting to see the hurt on his face but not weak enough to shy away from it.

Unfortunately, today was not the day Sasuke was brave enough. He was more scared than ever.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Last time I checked, this was not the kind of person you were. I didn't know you we're a filthy liar."

"I am not—you know what? You're nothing more than a bastard, I hate you."

"I hate you too."

"Go to hell!" Naruto spun around and stormed away, not bothering to look back at the raven, with that impassive face. His eyes were burning, but he moved on until he reached the boys bathroom, then he locked the door and sank to the ground. The blonde man clenched his teeth together with rage and tried ignoring the hot wetness dripping from the corners of his eyes. This was stupid, stupid, stupid! Naruto hit his head against the door of the restroom, pulling hard on his golden locks.

All the times he used protection—but this one time—with that stupid bastard—

And now he was... over. His life was over, his future had ended, no one would ever trust him again. People would talk—oh, they would have so much to say about stupid, dead last Naruto Uzumaki! How they knew he would be the one to end up this way, how he was always the promiscuous type, how they wish he wouldn't have royally fucked up and could've graduated.

How Naruto's senior year had been ruined by his own bad choices. But no one would say anything about the bastard. As far as they knew, they would never bat an eyelash toward the Uchiha.

**You know I couldn't tell you what happen with Naruto being shot 'till next chapter! I know I'm horrible, but this is my longest chapter by far, review please. **

**Shout Outs: Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san and Ilindora. And a guest reviewer!**

**Guys, next chapter is the LAST chapter. It might end up being longer than this one, I'm not sure. Then I'll have my epilogue, and that's that. Thank you for staying so long.**


	15. Chapter 15

"Fuck!" Sasuke hurried to turn the steering wheel of his car to avoid hitting the smaller vehicle in front of him. Gaara hit his arm against the car door. The raven could hear him cursing but paid no mind as he swerved into the next lane. He had to hurry, he—he _had_ to be there! Sasuke pressed his foot down harder on the gas pedal.

"Sasuke! It would do no good if we both ended up in the hospital too!" The redhead shouted, bracing himself against the dashboard. The Uchiha ignored him still, the speed of the SUV constantly climbing. "Uchiha, slow the fuck down! How would Naruto feel if we got put in the bed next to him?"

Without a word, the car slowed slightly, logic breaking through the ravens mind at last. Gaara breathed a sigh of relief, pulling out his constantly buzzing cell phone. "What's going on?"

"Gaara? Are you okay?" Neji's worried voice came from the other line. "I saw Sasuke drive by a couple minutes ago."

"I'm fine." He redhead rubbed at his arm. He glanced toward the Uchiha, who was completely absorbed in his driving, a crazed look in his eyes. He teeth were locked and his eyebrows seemed to be knotted together. "He on the other hand, may need some help. When will you get to the hospital? He'll need you."

The sound of brunette covering the mouthpiece and yelling orders at someone could be heard. "I have about 15 minutes left here. Then I'll be there in a heart beat." Neji was taking the day off from school to feel in for his uncle at the office building. Somewhere in background Gaara could make out crying, which had to be Hinata. "I'll be there shortly. Keep Sasuke together until I get there, please Gaara."

"I will." The redhead promised. They said their goodbyes as Sasuke pulled recklessly into Konoha's hospital parking lot. He parked across a handicap space and jumped out the car, making a run for the entrance. "_Uchiha_!" Gaara snapped and reached over to pull the keys from ignition. No need for the car to be stolen. He hurried from the vehicle and pressing the button to lock it behind himself. By the time he reached the front doors he could see the raven trying to break the 'up' button to the elevator. Gaara called for him again but now Sasuke had lost patience and was going up the stairs. "Sasuke!"

Fear had never been so prominent to Sasuke. He'd felt fear when Naruto had first told him about his pregnancy, he'd felt fear when he had to tell his father—he'd felt fear every time he looked into Naruto's eyes. All throughout his life Sasuke's greatest fear had been rejection. But all of that was nothing compared to what he was about to lose. How many times would he hurt Naruto... Sasuke gritted his teeth, running up the last step to the second floor. There were nurses and doctors running all over the place, he grabbed a man by the scrubs. "Naruto Uzumaki? Where is he?"

"The pregnant male?" The man asked, looking over who had snatched him. He recognized Sasuke Uchiha. "He's in the intensive care unit—down the hall, to the right, go through two sets of doors. That's to the waiting room, you won't be allowed inside the actual room with him, he's—"

The raven was done listening, pushing his way through the staff and down the hall. He shouldn't have left the blonde alone! Just that morning, he'd been with Naruto.

_"You sure you don't want to go to school? They're giving seniors a lot of information on graduation today." Sasuke reminded the blonde, running a finger over his swollen stomach. Naruto shrugged from where he was laying on the couch. "Okay. I'll make sure to get two of everything for you."_

_"I don't know." The blonde looked at Sasuke. "I wanna stay here today. Just the thought of school makes my stomach churn, eh!" He laughed and placed his hands over the ravens. Said raven slightly flinched, still not completely confident with touching the males tummy. "One more month!"_

_"Yeah," Sasuke eyed the stomach. "I've never felt her kick. Does she a lot?" Naruto told him it was mostly at night whenever he was trying to sleep. "That's what my mother use to say about Itachi." He himself liked to move in the mornings. "I'm staying the night tonight."_

_Naruto laughed again and Sasuke smiled, hoping their kid would sound just like that._

Entering the waiting room was something Sasuke wished he'd avoided. There was a total of 3 people inside: Itachi, a tearful Tsunade and a man he didn't recognize with long white hair, and his arm around Tsunade's shoulders. Sasuke marched over to Itachi, "What can you tell me?"

"He's in the intensive care unit, they won't let anyone back to see him." Itachi answered, his face looked paler than ever, old. Sasuke turned toward the staff only door, determined to prove his brother wrong. The older raven grabbed his brother by the shoulders. "Listen for a moment! Sasuke, he's hurt pretty bad. If you barge in there causing a riot, that'll take attention away from him... think about what's best." Sasuke slumped in his brothers arms, covering his face and using him as support.

"Naruto..." The younger Uchiha mumbled. What could he do? He wanted to be back there, with his blonde and his daughter. Not knowing what was going on with them was literally tearing him apart. The waiting room door opened and in came Gaara, taking in the scene before him. He nodded once at Itachi and took a chair next to Tsunade, silently. "When can I see him?" Sasuke shouted toward the receptionist behind the counter, who hadn't said a word to any of their company.

She jumped at the aggression suddenly directed toward her. "S-sir, it all depends on when the patient is stabilized. The doctors will let us know what they can." She looked down at some papers, "Yes, we have our top people on the patient."

Instead of calming Sasuke, this just made him more anxious. He would have honestly lost his mind then and there if it weren't for the arms of his brother keeping him on his feet. Answers—he wanted answers! "Where are the police? Have they found who did this?"

Whoever had done this would pay immediately. Prison was not enough. If it were left in Sasuke's, he would probably kill the culprit. He would have to find away to get the villain alone, settle things with his fists before having his lawyers push for the death penalty. Especially _if_... _if_... Sasuke pulled at his own hair, unable to finish the thought. "The police are already searching for clues inside his apartment. They'll want to talk to you eventually. We will find whoever did this Sasuke, you have my word." Itachi's voice echoed his brothers fury.

Tsunade spoke, "Are we just expected to sit here and wait?" She wiped at her puffy eyes, directing her question at no one in particular. "How _dare_ that brat make us wait." She sniffed. The man sitting next to her rubbed her shoulders, whispering soothing words into her ear. She leaned against him, not seeming able to support herself any longer.

The sight pained Sasuke. Whenever he happen to run into Tsunade she had always been a boisterous and tough woman, seeing her like this now wasn't anything good. He felt the older raven pulling him and found himself sitting in a chair shortly, between him and Gaara, who was working on his own silent tears.

Anger flared inside Sasuke's chest again, "Tell me something!" He demanded, trying to jump up from the chair. He was acting so unrefined, wild, insane. The receptionist paged one the nurses, speaking hurriedly and fearfully.

"The condition on patient Naruto Uzumaki is not stabilizing, but Dr. Chiyo and her team are inducing labor, trying to get the unborn child out before removing the bullets. It looks like the patient may be CTD but there's still hope there. GOK."

"Explain the terminology." Sasuke told the woman behind the counter. She hesitated, looking flustered and worried about what the raven might do. "What did she mean?"

"Sasuke..." Itachi was tired. He had originally gone to school to become a surgeon before being sucked into the family business, he understood each term. He licked his lips before speaking to his brother. "She said they're going to get the baby out, but Naruto isn't looking so good. She said to put our trust in God."

The younger Uchiha looked at his brother, not really seeing anything. Then he turned his head to the left, feeling a hand take his own. Gaara had taken hold of his hand, his face streaked with tears, eyeliner running down. But he wasn't shaking, the tears flowed on their own accord. Still, his hand held tight to Sasuke's as he looked at the ground. The raven returned the hold, feeling his dark eyes threatening to water up—but he refused to break down. If anything he should hold on for Naruto, grow some patience—start praying that everything would be okay and Naruto would be fine and Sasuke would get to hold his daughter shortly.

**/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\/O\**

The waiting room had filled up. People Sasuke couldn't even recognize we're piled in, students that had barely spoken two words to his blonde were in there crying their eyes out. Funny how that happened, weren't these the same ones who had shunned him before? The newspaper wanted to speak with Fugaku, who had shown up, but he waved them away and threatened the violence of his lawyers if they dared try to talk to his youngest son. Mikoto was a mess, holding Sasuke's head against her chest and stroking his hair, telling her baby that she would help him. She was the first person to start actually praying. Hinata soon joined her, followed by many of the bandwagon passengers. Neji and Gaara had disappeared to the hall, probably not wanting to show any more weakness infront of Sasuke.

"I'm going to _blow_ this place up, if I don't get some goddamn answers." The young Uchiha told the new receptionist, the other had gone on a break. Or more so she fled from his glare.

"Squad S, we have multiple guest in the waiting area. Can you give us any status on the Uzumaki patient?" She paged.

A monotone voice that sounded bored replied, "It's like he's slipping into a coma. We are working as fast as we can, we're having trouble with all the bleeding. We have to give him a blood transfusion which is going to complicate the c-section... Just let us work."

Sasuke didn't even bother to turn to his brother for any comfort. He wanted to get out of there. He removed himself from his mother and walked out of the room, ignoring all the people who asked where he was going. He stormed down the hall, past Gaara and Neji, and down the flight of stairs. Sasuke went back to the first floor, found a bench and sat. He covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes tight. The last thing he wanted to do is cry, Naruto would hate it if the first thing he saw after recovering was Sasuke's crying face. But the raven truly couldn't help it. Four hours had gone by and it was all starting to feel unreal. It was hurting, everything had been so right eight hours ago, it had all be snatched away in a 24 second phone call.

The raven heard someone coming toward and was about to bite their head off when he saw it was the man who had come with Tsunade. He sat next to Sasuke, "Hey, bud. So, you're the guy who got my godson knocked up, eh?"

"You're his godfather?" Sasuke surveyed the old man. His white hair was long and spiky, his eyes dark, and he had red strips tattooed down his cheeks. "I've never heard of you. Are you Tsunade's husband?"

"Hehe, nope. She's _hopelessly_ in love with me though." He answered. "Just call me Jiraiya, I was chosen by Naruto's father to watch over the brat. So, that makes me his godfather—I even named him too." He extended his hand to the raven, who gave it a weak shake.

"Why haven't you been in his life? He's never once mentioned a Jiraiya person." Sasuke questioned, looking over the man again. He looked decent enough, why wasn't he Naruto's full guardian? He cared enough to show up at the hospital but not house him?

"Well," Jiraiya started, leaning back. "After the accident with his parents, me and Tsunade both tried to get custody of the little man. But his aunt took him, she was actually blood related so we had to give in. You know she only wanted the money the state would give her. After finding out there was no check, she threw him back into the system and we tried again. But Tsunade was a heavy—_heavier_ drinker, she couldn't pass any of the background checks. As for me, honestly I had some charges from when I was in high school, got caught peeping on girls a couple times." Jiraiya shook his head sadly. "I never thought such minor charges would prevent me from getting my godson! But the system declared me unfit. I battled them and fought, by the time I succeed in being cleared, he was living on his own.

"I told him he could come live with me down south, he could start new. He could get out of Konoha and forget everything that's ever happened here." Sasuke's heart squeezed when he heard this. "But you know what he told me? That brat said he wasn't going anywhere. He said if he packed up and moved away it would only make him that much more weak. He didn't want to forget about his parents, he said he liked Konoha despite it all. If you ask me, I think he wanted to prove something. So, I let him stay. I called him twice a month, every month to check in on him. He never told me about the conditions he lived in, Sasuke, he lied." Jiraiya frowned at himself. "I would have forced him to move in with me—he's still a kid, barely 18 now.

"After seeing how he was living, I'll never forgive myself for leaving him here. I left him here with all this pain and confusion, he was too young to be on his own. I sent him money over the years, but it's like he never got any of it. I don't know, but I could've prevent this whole thing." The old man was blaming himself, but if only he knew how guilty Sasuke was.

"You can't blame yourself. Naruto is a knucklehead—he takes on things even if it should be left alone. He's that kind of guy." The Uchiha placed a hand on Jiraiya's shoulder. The old man nodded in agreement.

"I just hope he comes out of this one. Then I can die in peace, bud." Jiraiya shut his eyes. "Now, on to you. I know you're tearing yourself apart in that head of yours. Sasuke, Naruto mentioned you to me before. Said you would make him go and live with me."

That was absolutely _correct_. Naruto refused to live with him and his family, but if it were brought to his attention that there was a safer and loving home somewhere with a family friend, Sasuke would have seen to it that Naruto was on the next train there. The raven would visit as much as possible, distance was no issue for him. If he could, he would buy a home next door to Jiraiya to make it easier. "That's true."

"Hehe, the kid knew it. I don't know why Naruto thinks he burdens people. It's really the opposite, he makes people better I think." The white haired man played with his fingers. "Well, in any case, I approve. You're welcome to the family." Jiraiya patted the raven on the back. For some odd reason, Sasuke blushed. He never thought there would come a time where he would get approval of Naruto's 'family'—Naruto was the one who was joining the Uchiha's. It caught him off guard, but it felt nice. "Let's get back up there, Sasuke."

Before either man had stood up, Fugaku Uchiha had stepped out of the elevator and was coming toward them, the Konoha Sheriff on his heels. Fugaku had a heavy frown on his face.

Sasuke stood as the duo arrived, while Jiraiya took the hint to leave. He nodded to Sasuke before starting up the stairs. "Any news about Naruto or the baby?" Sasuke asked his father, ignoring the cop.

"They've began cutting into Naruto, the transfusion worked." Fugaku answered.

Sheriff Jashin stopped Sasuke from running up the stairs. "I need to get some answers from you first, son." The younger raven demanded what kind of answers he would possibly need from him. "Well, first, do you recognize this object? It was recovered from the scene of the crime." Jashin held up a plastic bag, and inside the bag was Sasuke's purple lighter. The raven patted his jeans, he hadn't had it in longest time but he couldn't exactly remember when he'd missed it.

"It's mine but I lost it some time ago." Sasuke narrowed his eyes, seeing where this was going. He was now a suspect—at least a person of interest. There was no way in hell he would try to kill Naruto, let alone their daughter.

"Mmhm, son, where were you this morning at around 10am?" Sheriff Jashin asked, hands on his hips.

"I don't think you can ask those kinds of questions until we have a lawyer present, Jashin. But Sasuke was at school, you can check all the cameras and attendance records you want. Come Sasuke, we have to check on Naruto-kun now." Fugaku put his arm out to lead his youngest son to the elevator. Sasuke started to walk but then turned back to the sheriff. Something was off.

"Sheriff Jashin, what happen to your standard pistol?" All this pain was making him strangely alert. The younger raven knew that the Konoha police force all used one type of gun, it was part of their regulation. He knew that because he'd once aspired to become part of it. Two pairs of Uchiha eyes turn to Jashin's belt, eyeing the gun at his hip. "That's a different model isn't it? It's close to the standard, but it's handle is missing the emblem. Why are you trying to _copy_ it? What happen to yours?" Sasuke frowned, his thoughts racing.

His lighter. The sheriffs gun. _Naruto_. "Now that I think about it... I remember when my lighter went missing." Sasuke turned to completely face the sheriff. His eyes held a dark glare, the guilty look on the sheriffs face only fueled it. "The day I beat the shit out of your son. _Hidan Jashin_. He's always had a problem with Naruto!" He did it, didn't he? "I'll _kill_ him! I will literally _murder_ that stupid piece of shit—!" Sasuke started to charge the frozen sheriff, being held back by his father.

It was when they were wresting, Hidan had stolen the lighter and used it to smoke Naruto out of his house. Then as soon as Naruto was out in the open and vunerable, Hidan had shot him using his own fathers pistol. Then his father had covered for him by replacing the gun and hoping no one would notice it was gone. All with the hope that the lighter would trace the crime back to Sasuke, banking on no one noticing the difference in the guns. But they should've banked on the Uchiha's having a wide variety of interests. The question was why Hidan had done it, why? "Something is wrong with him. He must be obsessed!" Sasuke yelled at the sheriff.

Sasuke had heard rumors of the captain of the football team having violent tendencies. Hidan had never crossed him so he wrote it off as him being a big bully. But with Naruto being one of the only openly gay students and pregnant, Hidan had to have focused just on the blonde. Obsessed with what a target Naruto had become. _Insane_ enough to lash out to this extent. "_I'll_ _slit his throat in his sleep_!" Sasuke nearly broke free of his fathers desperate grasp. "He will pay!"

Rage. Sasuke could feel every fiber of his body pushing him to strangle the white haired teen. To watch the life slowly drain away and be flooded with the sweet experience that was revenge.

"Sasuke! Go upstairs I'll handle this. Go!" Fugaku used most of his strength to hurl his son toward the stairs. "We will have our revenge. The Jashin family should know better than to harm not one, but two Uchiha's."

Sasuke threw one last menacing glance at the sheriff before starting up the stairs. His phone buzzed twice in his pocket. It was a message from Neji, 'HURRY' it read.

Sasuke's heart raced with possible meanings for that one simple word. Breaking into the waiting room, the people inside ushered him forward and through the staff only door. He glanced at his brother, who nodded at him. On the other side a man with short red hair who strangely resembled Gaara was waiting for him. "The father? Come this way, your child is almost here. I'm Dr. Sasori." He was the doctor who had spoken earlier. Sasori had blood splattered on his white coat, which worried Sasuke but the raven could only focus on one thing.

Kizuna Uchiha.

Sasuke was led to a large glass window. Inside, Naruto's bare stomach was visible, his mouth covered by a mask. His arms had several wires attached, he was starting to look like a robotic spider. "I can't get any closer?" Sasuke begged, his heart felt like it was being ripped from his very chest. This was pain—so close to everything he wanted but still on the other side of a wall. Naruto's eyes were shut and his hair was damped a bit from blood and sweat. More than anything, Sasuke wanted to see into those blue eyes.

"No, it would be too dangerous for him and the infant. But the c-section seems to be a success so you can see the infant shortly." For the first time Sasuke actually noticed the elderly looking woman who was operating over his blondes stomach. She was breathing slightly heavy and her forehead dotted with perspiration. But her eyes were intent and focused, giving the baby all of the attention it needed. "Don't worry, Chiyo-sama is the best in the field. They're in good, capable hands."

What felt like forever went by before the miracle happened. It was the single most important thing that would ever happen in Sasuke's life. Chiyo lifted a small pale body from Naruto's stomach, one that was kicking almost defiantly but not crying. Like she was irritated that she'd been pulled from the comfort of her blonde fathers womb a month early. Sasuke nearly jumped through the glass window.

"You can see her in the next room." Sasori told the raven. The Uchiha stumbled to the room next door, being led to a plush chair and sitting down. It was like another smaller waiting room. 17 minutes went by and Sasuke sat there alone, waiting for his children. His heart was thumping in his chest, and he kept having to swallow. What was she going to look like? Like him or like Naruto? Was she going to hate him? All these questions he couldn't answer. Sasuke started to tapped his foot against the tiled floor, anxious.

Soon enough a dark haired nurse strolled in carrying a bundle of pink blankets, smile on her face. Sasuke wiped the palms of his hands on his jeans as the bundle was extended toward him. Kizuna had to be the most pleasantly warm thing Sasuke had ever held. He pulled her into his arms and pushed the blanket down to peer into her face.

"Kizuna..." She had her eyes open, looking around as if still pouting. Her eyes were dark, her mouth opened into a little 'o' shape. His daughter continued to look around at her surroundings, not wanting to nap apparently. Kizuna had gotten a full head of straight red hair, which Sasuke suspected came from Naruto's side of the gene pool. Still, she was pale which she got from his. "Hi there, Kizuna-chan." Sasuke kissed her little hand and she looked at him directly with all the force an Uchiha infant should have. He laughed, totally absorbed with everything she did. "You're so beautiful baby. I love you." And he really did. With the sound of his voice she seemed to be lulled to sleep, shutting her beautiful little eyes.

"Is she... perfectly fine? She's not hurt?" Sasuke looked up at the nurse for the first time, who was crying from watching Sasuke and Kizuna.

She nodded. "Yes, she received no injuries from the accident. She's a wonderful, healthy baby girl." The nurse wiped her eyes, smearing her make up, still smiling.

"And Naruto? How is he doing?" Sasuke swallowed thickly as the nurses tears of joys turned to ones of dread. "Please, just tell me. I can't take not knowing." With the security of his child, Sasuke was able to look at the nurse without flinching from fear.

"Dr. Chiyo is still working with him, Mr. Uchiha. The outlook is not good." She admitted. "When we brought him into the hospital, he was losing the baby. Mr. Uzumaki begged us to save her, whether or not he died in the process. So, we shifted to making sure the baby made it, but it took a large toll on his body. But we will _not_ give up on him."

Sasuke nodded, tears rising to his eyes and he pulled Kizuna closer. That sounded just like that idiot. "Thank you for being honest—" Sasuke looked at her name tag. "—Ms. Shizune. I appreciate the hard work you all put into getting my little girl here."

"You're very welcome, Mr. Uchiha." Shizune turned and went back to the operating room.

The raven pecked his daughter on the forehead, hearing her small, soft whine for the first time. He easily put his cheek on her head, shushing her cries as they waited for their blonde to recover.

**Kizuna means border. She's the border between Sasuke and Naruto, get it? Where they meet.**

**Well, I'm sure you all want to know if Naruto is going to live or die. I'll be honest, I don't really like definite endings, I rather finish with the unknown and let readers decide. But the epilogue will contain Naruto's fate as it was predetermined. **

**Technically this is the end of my fic. The last true chapter. My epilogue won't be very long, so please review and we can wrap this up.**

**I'm also now taking requests. Only by PM.**


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